Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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309. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the production of a valid driver licence is sufficient proof of citizenship and identity for Irish travellers entering Dublin Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49311/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The requirements for any citizen entering the State at Dublin Airport or any other port of entry to the State is that he or she be in possession of a valid passport or other equivalent document, issued by or on behalf of an authority recognised by the Government, which establishes his or her identity and nationality to the satisfaction of an immigration officer.

This requirement does not apply to any person (other than a non-national) coming from or embarking for a place in the State, Great Britain or Northern Ireland (i.e. the Common Travel Area - CTA).

There is no requirement for Irish (or UK) citizens to produce passports when travelling within the CTA. However, it is the case that airline carriers in many instances require their passengers to have a passport in possession before allowing them to board the aircraft. As such, this is not an immigration requirement.

Unlike the operational practices at some UK airports, there is generally no segregation of arriving passengers at Irish ports of entry to the State. Consequently, Immigration Officers performing immigration control duties at airports in the State do not know where passengers have travelled from when such passengers present at immigration control desks. It is, therefore, necessary for Immigration Officers to establish where passengers have arrived from, and in order to do this, an Immigration Officer may ask passengers questions with a view to establishing their nationality and port of embarkation.

Once satisfied that a person is a citizen of the Common Travel Area (CTA) and that such person has travelled from the United Kingdom, the Immigration Officer will make no further requirement of that person.

In circumstances where a person, who is a citizen of the CTA, and who has travelled from within the CTA, is not in possession of a passport, an Immigration Officer is duty-bound to ask questions designed to establish that the person is entitled to benefit from the CTA immigration arrangements. The production of a valid driver’s licence is a document that would assist an immigration officer with these enquiries.