Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 386: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a passport will issue to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38659/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Passports Act 2008 requires that before issuing a passport to a person, the Minister for Foreign Affairs shall be satisfied that the person is an Irish citizen. Proofs of identity and entitlement to citizenship are required in respect of all passport applications. As the person in question was born in 2010, her entitlement to Irish citizenship is governed by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 2004 (the 2004 Act). Those persons, who were born in the State after 1 January 2005, where neither parent is an Irish or British citizen or otherwise entitled to reside without restriction in the State or in Northern Ireland, may claim citizenship by birth in the State (and thereby establish eligibility for a passport) only where a parent has a period of reckonable residency in the State for 3 years of the 4 years preceding their birth.

In the case of applications for passports arising from the terms of the 2004 Act, it is the practice of the Passport Office to seek evidence of lawful residence in the State by one or both parents. The general types of evidence considered are immigration stamps in passports and Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) cards and registration books. In cases where a parent is a refugee, the evidence required is the travel document for declared refugees, which is issued by the Department of Justice and Law Reform, a GNIB card and the letter from the Department of Justice and Law Reform which declares the parent to be a refugee.

A passport application was submitted for this child on 07 September, 2010. The evidence submitted showed that the child's father did not have the required amount of reckonable residence in the four years prior to his children's birth in accordance with guidelines provided to the Passport Service by the Department of Justice and Law Reform, which is responsible for citizenship and immigration matters. Accordingly, the passport application could not be approved The guidelines direct that periods of residency in the State, prior to obtaining a declaration as a refugee in accordance with the Refugee Act, 1996, are not reckonable for the purposes of the 2004 Act. The evidence provided by the applicant's father to the Passport Service shows that while he was resident in State from May 2007, he was not declared a refugee until 26 October 2007. Accordingly he does not have the necessary period of reckonable residency prior to the birth of the applicant.

The guideline with regard to residence, that arises prior to the date on which a person is declared a refugee, is currently being reviewed by the Department of Justice and Law Reform in consultation with the Passport Service. If, on foot of this review, the guideline changes, the Passport Service will of course re-examine the passport application and contact the applicant's parents accordingly.