Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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751. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will address the situation in which passport applications that have been witnessed in a Garda station that is not a full-time station are not being accepted by the Passport Office despite the fact that the signature and ID number of the garda is on the application form along with the station stamp. [20134/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In order to verify the identity of a passport applicant and, in the case of children, the consent of their guardians, the Passport Service requires certain forms to be witnessed.

There are certain applications for applicants resident in Ireland that must be witnessed by a member of an Garda Síochána. These include:

- All Passport Express applications - Section 9 Certificate of Identity

- First time adult online applications - Identity Verification Form

- First time child online applications - Child Passport Identity and Consent Form (Guardian A)

In order to protect the integrity of the Irish passport, it is important that forms are correctly completed and verified by the Passport Service by calling the Garda station to confirm the Garda's signature. 

In the absence of any specific details, the Passport Service is unable to confirm why these applications were rejected. Unfortunately, in cases where the Passport Service has difficulty contacting a Garda station in order to verify the Garda's signature, the passport application may be delayed. In some cases, the applicant may be requested to submit a new witnessed form where the Passport Service has been unable to contact the Garda station. 

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.