Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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156. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to allow the new public services card to be used as an alternative to a passport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13679/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Passports are internationally recognised travel documents which attest to the identity and nationality of the bearer. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a UN specialised agency which defines in detail the required format for a passport. For example in a type 3 document (a standard passport book) the machine-readable zone must span two lines, and each line must be 44 characters long. The following information must be provided in the zone: name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, sex, and passport expiration date.

The Passport Service launched the Passport Card in October 2015. This credit card sized document complies with ICAO specifications and can be used by adult Irish passport holders for travel to 31 countries in total including the EU/EEA and Switzerland and incorporates the very highest levels of cutting-edge security measures. Since its launch, the Passport Service has issued over 90,000 passport cards to Irish citizens residing in the state and across the world. I would encourage all adult citizens who hold a valid passport to consider applying for a passport card.