Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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116. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason Irish citizens have to prove they are using their Irish name on all correspondence for at least two years before they can get their Irish name placed on their passport; and his plans to review this procedure. [10617/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service is committed to the use and promotion of the Irish language. This is reflected in the name policy which is applied under the Passports Act, 2008 (the Act). Section 10 of the Act provides that a passport will issue in the name of a citizen as it appears on his/her birth certificate. If the Irish form of the name is registered on the birth certificate, this name will appear on the passport. However, name change from that which appears on a person’s birth certificate is permitted under the Act in situations such as marriage.

Where the requested name to appear on the passport is different from the registered birth name – other than by marriage - the Passport Service requires evidence in respect of the use of this new name and identity over a two year period. There is discretion under the Act in terms of the two year proof of usage requirement but care must be taken by the Department to mitigate the risk that name change requests are being used for identity swapping purposes.

To this end, the Passport Service has put in place an option for those citizens who may wish to use the Irish form of their names, but who lack the full two years proof of use. In these circumstances, the Irish form of the name will be personalised on the passport with the birth name added as an observation on the passport. Once the two year proof of usage has been obtained, the passport holder can re-apply for a new passport in his/her Irish name without any observation.

This policy seeks to protect the integrity and security of our passports against passport or identity fraud, while at the same time balancing the wishes of those genuine citizens, who wish to use the Irish language more frequently in their daily lives.