Written answers

Wednesday, 23 September 2015

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Passport Services

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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111. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason a mother's passport cannot be taken into account in the case of an application for a passport by person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32362/15]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Passports Act, 2008 (the Act) 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 to him/her. The child in question was born in the State in 2008. Her entitlement to Irish citizenship is, therefore, subject to the terms of section 6A of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956 as amended (the 1956 Act). This 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 person’s birth.Two previous passport applications for this child have been refused under the Act by the Department on the grounds that her mother’s lawful residence was insufficient to demonstrate her entitlement to Irish citizenship.

The current and third application includes an Irish passport for the child’s mother.This passport was issued on 21 May, 2015 after she was naturalized on 10 April, 2015. This establishes that she was not an Irish citizen in 2008 when her daughter was born and means that the child’s entitlement to Irish citizenship is still subject to section 6A of the 1956 Act.

However, in view of the child’s lawful residence in the State since 2008 and given that her mother is now an Irish citizen, her parents can seek to establish their daughter’s eligibility under the naturalization category of Irish citizenship. To do this, they should contact the Department of Justice and Equality for information on applying. If the child’s application is successful, she will be issued with a certificate of naturalization.This certificate would serve to demonstrate her entitlement to Irish citizenship in any future passport application.

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