Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the process for a person that was born an Irish citizen but living abroad for 30 plus years and has let their Irish citizenship lapse; the way that they can renew it; the length of time the process takes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8580/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As discussed with the Deputy's Office, the Passport Service is happy to advise the citizen in question should they wish to contact the Passport Service directly. 

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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122. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the current process with respect to first-time passport applications for babies born in Ireland in circumstances in which both parents are non-Irish citizens; the current estimated processing times for such applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8493/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008, as amended. The Act provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to that person.  In order to meet this requirement, each passport applicant must demonstrate an entitlement to Irish citizenship by providing acceptable documentary evidence of this entitlement when making a first time passport application.

An individual born on the island of Ireland before 2005 or born to a parent who was born on the island of Ireland before 2005 is automatically an Irish citizen.

The citizenship of persons born on the island of Ireland on or after 1 January 2005 is determined by the citizenship or residency status of one of their parents at the time of the person’s birth. In the circumstances outlined by the Deputy in which both parents are non-Irish citizens, if neither of the parents are a British citizen, the citizenship of a child born in Ireland on or after 1 January 2005 is determined by the residency status of one of the parents at the time of the child’s birth. A child born on or after 1 January 2005 may claim citizenship by birth where a parent has been lawfully resident in the State for three years of the four years preceding his/her birth (a total of 1,095 days).

In order to prove this residency period of one of the parents when applying for a passport on behalf of their child, the parent must provide acceptable documentary evidence. The documents required to prove the residency period vary depending on whether the parent was an EU or non-EU citizen at the time of the child’s birth.

If the parent was an EU citizen at the time of the child’s birth, it is necessary to rely on the following list of documents to prove the parent’s residency in Ireland for three of the four years before the child’s birth (not all of the documents on the list may be required in every case):

- Tax records (P60 / P45 / P35L / Employment Detail Summary) for each yearshowing at least 35 weeks insurable employment. 

- Notice of Assessment / Self Assessment records for each year and supportingdocumentation e.g. bank statements / domestic bills for each month

- Letter from Social Welfare/Intreo confirming type of benefit payment received andthe dates to and from when the benefit was paid directly, this must beaccompanied by a photocopy of parent’s PPS card front and back

- Rent Lease (must include contract page and signature of the parent whoseresidency is being considered) with receipts / utility bills/ rent book toconfirm payments for each month

- Bank statementsfor each month showing regular transactions in and out of the account

- School/college letters confirming dates of attendance, full time courses undertaken and proofof exam results

- Declaration Form A: This is a sworn statement by the parent, giving details of their period ofresidency in Ireland. 

If neither of the parents was an Irish, British or EU citizen at the time of the child’s birth, one of the parents will be required to provide proof of residency in Ireland for three of the four years before the child’s birth with the following original documents:

- Original national passport of the parent showing residency stamps for 3 of theprevious 4 years before the child is born. Expired passports can besubmitted.

- Parent’s Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) card / Irish ResidencePermit (IRP) card.

- A summary statement, signed by parent of parent’s ‘permission to remain’stamps in the passport. The summary should include:

- Number of the passport.

- Name of passport holder.

- Description of the stamp(s).

- Dates of the permission.

In addition to the documents outlined above, all first time child applications require the submission of:

- Guardianship documents (if required).

- Full original civil birth certificate.

Information on what is required for all first time passport applications, including details on documentary requirements, guardianship and consent, are available at my Department’s recently updated website (www.dfa.ie/passports/documentary-requirements/).

The Passport Service is currently experiencing high demand for first time passports, particularly for children. First time passport applications do take longer to process and there are a number of reasons for this:

- As outlined above, it is important for the Passport Service to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship. The Irish passport was recently ranked 5^thin the Henley Global Passport Index as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 187 countries. This is something we can all be proud of. However, in order to maintain this ranking and to protect theintegrity of the Irish passport, the Passport Service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship status of first time applicants. 

- In the case of children, it is essential that the Passport Service verifies the consent of the child’s guardians before a passport can issue. This ensures that the Passport Service protects the rights of the child and their guardians.

Due to the intensive analysis and extra measures undertaken by highly trained and experienced staff, first time applications take 40 working days to process. In cases of children whose parents are not Irish citizens, the process can sometimes take longer due to the need to ensure that all of the required supporting documentation to prove the child’s entitlement to Irish citizenship is submitted and correct.  Due to the high level of complexity with these particular applications, further documentation is often required adding to the processing time.

I strongly urge parents to carefully read the documentary requirements on my Department’s website and to apply for passports for their children online in plenty of time. Passport Online can be accessed by all first time applicants, irrespective of age, both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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123. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to technical difficulties preventing some passport applicants from completing their applications forcing them to submit new applications and incurring the fee for a second time; and the way that these applicants can receive a refund for their first application. [8527/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Online service offers Irish citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is a user-friendly, efficient service that consistently offers processing times up to 4 times faster than paper-based passport renewal applications. 90% of all passport applications are received through Passport Online.

All Irish citizens, including children, can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world. Passport Online can also be accessed by first time applicants, irrespective of age in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.

The Passport Service regrets that Passport Online experienced technical issues during the week of 24 January 2022. Despite these issues, over 32,000 applications were submitted via Passport Online that week.

A scheduled system upgrade that has improved the responsiveness and efficiency of the system was completed on Friday, 28 January 2022. This upgrade has addressed the issues experienced by some customers. Since the upgrade was completed, Passport Online has been fully functional and operating smoothly.

The Passport Service ensures that customers are fully informed of any scheduled downtime or technical issues with Passport Online via its social media accounts and on the Passport Online website.

In cases where passport applicants submitted an application twice and incurred a second fee during the week of 24 January 2002, these applicants can receive a full refund for the first application by contacting the Customer Service Hub at (01) 6711633 or via Webchat on my Department's website (www.dfa.ie/passports).  

Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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124. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a passport application by a person (details supplied) will be reviewed and expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8546/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the Passport Service has provided an update on the status of the passport application to the applicant's parent. 

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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125. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason no contact was made with the parents (details supplied) of a child in County Louth when issues arose with a passport application for the child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8623/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the Passport Service has provided an update on the status of the passport application to the applicant's parent.

The passport processing times apply to passport applications that are fully complete, where all required supporting documentation has been correctly submitted to the Passport Service by the applicant. Applications can take longer than the average turnaround time if applicants have not provided all of the required documentation to correctly complete their application. The supporting documentation for this application was received by the Passport Service on 6 December 2021. The Passport Service regrets that the application was not checked within the current average 40 day turnaround time.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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126. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to ongoing issues with the online passport tracker (details supplied) which is causing frustration for applicants who are advised to track their application on-line but the system is not updating all applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8649/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The online Passport Tracker tool provides applicants with an indication of how their application is progressing through the system and gives an estimated issue date based on the current average application processing time.

The Passport Service regrets that the Passport Tracker has been experiencing technical issues which has resulted in the tracker not correctly updating a small number of applications.The Passport Service apologises to applicants that have been inconvenienced by this short-term technical issue which is currently being resolved.  

Applicants who wish to receive an update on the status of their passport application can contact the Customer Service Hub at (01) 6711633 or via Webchat on my Department's website (www.dfa.ie/passports).