Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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125. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the way in which a person in the case of an Irish passport holder from Northern Ireland, living in Ireland who wishes for all their official documentation to feature the Irish version of their name as opposed to the English version and their birth certificate is British or Northern Irish, can apply for this change to the version of their name and have it featured going forward in applications for passports, driver licences and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32080/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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All passport applications are subject to the terms of the Passports Act, 2008 (“the Act”), which provides a legal basis for the various policies and practices which are applied by the Passport Service in the issue of passports.

Section 10 of the Act broadly provides that a passport will issue in the name of a citizen as it appears on his/her birth certificate or naturalisation certificate. Issuance of a passport in a name other than that which appears on a person’s birth or naturalisation certificate is permitted under the Act in certain situations, such as after marriage and so on, provided the relevant civil or legal documents are available to verify this change of name.

In cases where name change arises other than by marriage, civil partnership or adoption, the Act specifically requires evidence of the use of this new name over a two year period.

However, if a person requests issuance of a passport with a name change consisting of the use of the Irish version of his/her name, the Passport Service may adopt some flexibility in this policy and may facilitate the request if the applicant provides proof of a minimum period of six months usage of the Irish version of their name. In such cases, the Passport Service will include an observation on the passport recording the person’s birth certificate or previous name. This observation must remain on the passport until the condition of two years proof of usage can be satisfied. After the required two years and if the person wishes to do so, he/she may reapply (full fee will be required), submitting the required two years proof, and a new passport may issue without the observation.

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