Written answers
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Passport Controls
Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of Irish passports that have been issued to persons who have changed their legally registered names more than once. [10147/13]
Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of Irish passports that have been issued to nationals who list their place of residence as Israel. [10148/13]
Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of Irish passports that have been issued to persons who have changed their legally registered names more than once while also living in Israel. [10149/13]
Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 156 to 158, inclusive, together.
The information requested regarding change of names and places of residence is not maintained by the Passport Service in a format which allows the production of the statistical reports sought by the Deputy.
Passport holders legally change their names for a variety of reasons the most common being marriage. Whereas the Passport Service requests “Basis for Name to be used on passport” on the passport application form, this is for entitlement checking purposes only. The name change is recorded in the passport system. However, this is not recorded in a way which would provide the statistical information sought.
As passports are issued for a ten year period it would not be unusual for people to change address a number of times over this period. Additionally, the address to which the passport is sent is requested only for the purpose of passport delivery. Accordingly, the Passport Service cannot provide the statistical information relating to multiple changes of addresses for Israeli residents sought by the Deputy.
Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the controls in place to monitor the abuse of legally issued Irish passports by foreign intelligence services. [10150/13]
Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I can confirm that the Passport Service maintains close and regular contact with An Garda Síochána and, by extension, Interpol. I also advise the Deputy that the Passport Service encourages Irish citizens to recognise that a passport is a valuable document and recommends that any passport lost should be reported at the earliest opportunity.
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