Written answers

Friday, 6 September 2019

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Gender Recognition

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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33. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of applications for passports that have involved gender recognition certificates. [35518/19]

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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34. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of applications for a passport that availed of section 11(2B) of the Passports Act 2008 (details supplied). [35534/19]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 33 and 34 together.

All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act, 2008 (“The 2008 Act”). Section 38 of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 amended section 11 of the 2008 Act to provide for the issuing of a passport in a new gender and, if applicable, in a new name. Section 38 of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 was commenced by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection on September 4 2015.

Section 11(2A) of the 2008 Act provides for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to consider applications from an applicant who wishes to have a passport issued to him or her in a new gender and, if applicable, a new name when that applicant produces their gender recognition certificate as issued by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

Section 11(2B) of the 2008 Act provides for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to consider applications from an applicant who may not be eligible for a gender recognition certificate (for example, by virtue of being born overseas to an Irish born parent) but who wishes to have a passport issued to him or her in a new gender and, if applicable, a new name. Under this subsection, the applicant is required to submit a statutory declaration declaring that the applicant has a settled and solemn intention of living in the new gender for the rest of his or her life and understands the consequences of the application, and if appropriate, evidence to the satisfaction of the Minister of the use by the applicant of the new name in support of their passport application.

The Passport Service does not categorise or subdivide applications based on a request in the application to note a change of gender. Indicative figures from a manual count of existing records show that the Passport Service received 116 passport applications where a gender recognition certificate was produced and 38 applications where a statutory declaration was produced since 4 September 2015.

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