Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 175: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reasons an application for a passport has been refused in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27977/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Passports Act, 2008 provides, among other things, that only Irish citizens are entitled to be issued with Irish passports. Each application received by the Passport Service must, therefore, demonstrate that person's entitlement to Irish citizenship before a passport can issue. The Passport Service must operate within the law on this as in all matters.

The Department received an application from the person in question last month. At this stage, it cannot be finalised until her entitlement to Irish citizenship, if it exists, is demonstrated. The reasons for this are set out below. The applicant was born in Portlaoise on 19 December, 2006. Her entitlement to Irish citizenship must, therefore, be shown under the terms of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended (the Act). This Act provides that a person, born in the State on or after 1 January 2005, where neither parent is an Irish or British citizen or otherwise entitled to reside in the State or Northern Ireland without restriction at the time of that person's birth, may claim citizenship by birth in the State (and thereby establish eligibility for an Irish passport) only where a parent has been lawfully resident in the State for three years of the four years preceding that his/her birth.

The applicant's father became a naturalised Irish citizen after his daughter's birth. Her mother is a Nigerian citizen and no evidence has been presented with the child's application to show that she had acquired Irish citizenship at the time of her daughter's birth. As neither parents were Irish citizens in 2006, their residence in the State during the four year period from 19 December, 2002 to 18 December, 2006, which immediately preceded their daughter's date of birth, has to be examined by the Department to determine her entitlement to Irish citizenship.

In line with guidelines provided by Department of Justice and Equality, which is the Department responsible for immigration and citizenship, the proofs of lawful residence, which are accepted and considered by this Department for passport applications, are immigration stamps in passports and/or the registration cards/books. These are issued to persons registering their lawful presence in the State with the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB). In addition, the Department will accept letters from GNIB that state the various permission details which have been issued to a person. All of these are official documents/permits, which can be objectively verified by the Department, if required.

The evidence provided in the submitted application related to the mother's residence in the State. Her passport contains two stamps that were issued by GNIB prior to her daughter's birth. These show a registered presence in the State from 30 September, 2004 to 18 December, 2006. The amount of residence that accrues from this period is less than three years. As the statutory requirement has not been met, the daughter's entitlement to Irish citizenship has not been demonstrated. Accordingly, her application for a passport cannot be finalised.

On 5 June last, the Department wrote to the parents to inform them that, on the basis of the information provided to date, their daughter's application cannot be approved at present and to explain the reasons for this decision. In that letter, it was suggested to them that evidence in relation to the father's residence could be submitted to see if he has sufficient reckonable residence to demonstrate his daughter's entitlement to Irish citizenship. Their reply to the Department's letter is awaited. Subject to the receipt of their reply, their daughter's application will remain open. The parents also have the option of pursuing the matter of their daughter's entitlement to become a naturalised Irish citizen with the Department of Justice and Equality. In the event that she does acquire Irish citizenship by this or any other means, the Passport Service will be in a position to issue a passport on receipt of a new application.