James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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94. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will examine and expedite a passport application for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27077/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, further supporting documents for this application were received on 18th June 2024. Turnaround time from the receipt of further supporting documents is 15 working days.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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95. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the procedures involved in cases in which the applicant for Irish citizenship is the son of an Irish passport holder, that is, an Irish citizen not born in Ireland, and a great grandson of an Irish citizen; and the details of their entitlement to citizenship. [27089/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation.

For individuals born outside of Ireland, they may claim citizenship if they had at least one parent who was born in the island of Ireland and where that parent is an Irish citizen. An individual born on the island of Ireland before 1 January 2005 is automatically an Irish citizen.

Individuals who were not born in Ireland and whose Irish citizen parent was not born in Ireland can apply to become Irish citizens through their Irish-born grandparents through Foreign Birth Registration.

For individuals whose great-grandparent was born in Ireland, they may be entitled to apply for entry on the Foreign Birth Register (FBR) if their parent was an Irish citizen at the time of the applicant's birth. This means that their parent must have been entered on the Foreign Birth Register and been an Irish citizen before the applicant was born.

Further information on Foreign Birth Registration is available on my Department's website www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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96. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware of the difficulties faced by non-binary people looking to change their name; if he will ensure that this oversight in the system is urgently addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27107/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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All passport applications are subject to the terms of the Passports Act, 2008, as amended (“the Act“). The Act provides a legal basis for the various policies and procedures that are applied by the Passport Service in the issuing of passports.Section 10 of the Act provides that a passport will issue in the name of a citizen as it appears on his/her birth certificate or naturalisation certificate. However, a name change for a passport from that which appear on a person's birth certificate is permitted under the Act in situations such as marriage, civil partnership etc, where civil or legal documents are available to verify this change.In cases where a name change arises, other than by marriage or civil partnership etc, the Passport Service requires evidence in respect of the use of this new name and identity over a two year period. Evidence of this for at least two years through documentation such as photo ID and official correspondence in the new name is required.This policy seeks to protect the integrity and security of the Irish passport against identity fraud, while at the same time balancing the wishes of those citizens, who may wish to change their name for a variety of reasons, including people who are non-binary. The Passport Service can assess individual cases of non-binary applicants who wish to change their name and may not have a full two years' proof of usage. 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 currently ranks second in the Henley Global Passport Index as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 193 countries.