Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

48. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to clarify how long an Irish passport must be expired to be considered a first-time application with the Passport Office. [11778/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

An adult whose passport has expired more than five years ago and a child whose passport has expired more than 10 years ago will need to apply for their next passport as a first time applicant if their expired passport was issued more than 15 years ago.

All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008, as amended. Section 8 of the Act provides for the processing of personal data by the Passport Service as required for the issuance of passports and the maintenance of the integrity of the Passport Service system.

In order to comply with its obligations under data protection legislation, the Department will hold data which has been collected for the purposes of processing an application only as long as there is a business need to do so in line with the purposes for which it was collected.

In the case of passport issuance, the data will be held by the Passport Service for 15 years after the date of issuance, i.e. the validity of the passport plus five years, as stated in the Passport Service's Data Privacy Notice. After this time the data will be marked for destruction and will be destroyed in line with internal guidelines and guidelines for destruction received from the National Archives. A minimum amount of personal data is held beyond this period for the purpose of fraud prevention in order to maintain the integrity of the Passport Service system.

Under Section 7 of the Passports Act, the Passport Service may require the applicant to produce such documents as are considered necessary for the purposes of issuing a passport. In the case of applicants who are applying after more than 15 years since the issuance of their last passport, it is also possible that documentary requirements may have changed since the issuance of the last passport.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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. Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended.

There are no provisions for the spouse or partner of an Irish citizen to acquire an Irish passport solely by virtue of a marriage or civil partnership with an Irish citizen. The legal provision that provided for post-nuptial citizenship was repealed with effect from 30 November 2005 and therefore it is not possible to apply retrospectively. Citizens can apply for an Irish passport if they acquired Irish citizenship by making a declaration of post-nuptial citizenship, as prescribed by the Department of Justice and Equality prior to this date.

Information on Irish citizenship through naturalisation is available from the Department of Justice which has responsibility for that process.