Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 45: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the entitlement to an Irish passport in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26792/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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A passport application for the person in question was submitted on 25 August, 2011. In accordance with the provisions of the Passports Act, 2008, this Department must be satisfied that an applicant is an Irish citizen before issuing her with a passport. As the applicant was born in the State in July, 2011 her entitlement to Irish citizenship is governed by Section 6A of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended (the Act). The Act provides that a person, who is born in the State on or after 1 January, 2005 and does not have a parent who is either an Irish or British citizen or otherwise entitled to reside in the State or Northern Ireland without restriction, may claim citizenship by birth in the State (and thereby establish eligibility for a passport) only where a parent has been lawfully resident in the State for three of the four years preceding the birth of the child. It also provides that residence in Ireland in relation to permissions to stay in the State for studying is not reckonable for the purposes of the Act.

This Department assesses such applications in line with guidelines provided by the Department of Justice and Equality, which is responsible for matters of citizenship and immigration. In accordance with these guidelines, the proofs of lawful residence, which are accepted and considered in connection with passport applications, are immigration stamps in passports or the registration cards/books which are given to persons registering with the Garda National Immigration Bureau. These are official documents, which can be objectively verified and are relied on by the Department in the processing of passport applications.

In line with the requirements of the Act, the lawful residence in the State of the applicant's mother in the four year period preceding her daughter's date of birth was examined. The submitted evidence of immigration stamps in her passport shows that she has been resident in the State since March 2009. On this basis the total amount of residence does not meet with the statutory requirement of three years. Moreover, all of the mother's residence, which has been authorised by immigration authorities, is for study purposes and is, therefore, not reckonable for the purposes of the Act.

In light of the fact that the applicant's mother does not have the required reckonable residence for the purposes of the Act, her child's entitlement to Irish citizenship has not been demonstrated. The Department cannot issue a passport to her. The applicant's mother was advised of this by the Department in a letter dated 12 September, 2011. In this letter, the Department requested evidence of her lawful residence in the State prior to 2009 which might be reckonable for the purposes of the Act or if she had evidence of her own entitlement to Irish citizenship. No reply has been received from her in this matter.