Written answers
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Department of Foreign Affairs
Passport Fraud
11:00 pm
Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 244: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs, further to Parliamentary Question No. 358 of 18 November 2008, if he will provide complete figures for 2008 and to date in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46794/09]
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The figures for Irish passports reported as lost or stolen for 2008 and from 1 January to 4 December 2009 are:
| Year | Total passports issued | Lost or mislaid | Stolen | Total lost, mislaid or stolen | % of total issued |
| 2008 | 577,000 | 31,262 | 5,002 | 36,264 | 6.3% |
| 2009 to 4 December | 550,406 | 28,602 | 4,612 | 33,214 | 6.0% |
Since 1 October, 2009 the Department increased the frequency of its reporting of the serial numbers of all lost/mislaid or stolen passports to Interpol through An Garda Síochána, to daily reports. This information is then made available immediately to police forces worldwide in the Interpol database to protect against the fraudulent use of these Irish passports.
The holders of lost/mislaid or stolen passports are advised not to use them again for any travel if they are subsequently recovered. When completing the statement of loss as part of their new passport application, applicants undertake not to travel on a missing passport if subsequently found. However, a number of individuals either unknowingly or mistakenly use their previously reported lost or stolen passports. This may account for the following numbers of Irish citizens who were delayed at international border controls because of the lost or stolen status of their passports: 87 in 2008 and 121 in 2009 to date.
There has been increase in these incidents which is due to in part to heightened security at international ports and airports and an increase in the number of border stations worldwide that are electronically reading passports. In each of the cases above, the Passport Office has received a request from Interpol to verify the identity of the travellers. The Passport Office has been able to resolve these cases after checks of the relevant passport details against its own database were done.
vincent jennings
Posted on 18 Dec 2009 11:41 pm (Report this comment)
does anybody else feel that over 30000 lost and stolen Passports each year is a frighteningly high figure.
Many of these are the result of young people bringing them with them within the Republic to use as proof of age to gain admission or buy liquor.
The lack of a National Identity Card,and/or the failure of the State to make mandatory the Garda Age Card leads to what I consider to be an abuse of the most important document that the State gives to her citizens;it offends me to see the passport being used to validate a commercial transaction.
Surely in light of these figures,it is imperitive that the Dept of Foreign Affairs and the Dept.of Justice take remedial legislative action to reduce this abuse.How many of these passports are in the hands of criminals and terrorist organisations?