Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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307. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of Irish passports issued to persons under fraudulent means in the past 25 years to date; and the number of those passports that were recovered. [13083/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service takes its responsibility to protect the integrity of the Irish passport very seriously.  The Irish passport has a strong international reputation due to the strength of the security features within the passport book and the robust processes involved in its issuance. The Irish passport was recently ranked 5th in the Henley Global Passport Index as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 187 countries.

The Integrity Section of the Passport Service was established in 2015 to improve all aspects of passport fraud detection and prevention. Significant resources have been invested in the Integrity Section with an increase in staff numbers and new and improved systems being put in place. A considerable investment in technology and structures has helped to improve the detection and recording of instances of fraud. These resources, along with new procedures introduced by the Passport Service, have prevented fraudulent applications from being submitted and have closed down avenues of access previously used by fraudulent applicants.

Due to lack of records it is not possible to provide the figures requested prior to 2016. The total number of suspected fraudulent applications investigated by the Integrity Section from 2016 to 28 February 2022 is 4,730 cases. The Passport Service cannot provide an accurate figure of fraudulent passports recovered as in some instances they are recovered by An Garda Síochána or by law enforcement authorities overseas.