Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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136. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 54 of 22 January 2025, if he will provide a list of acceptable test providers for the examination of DNA evidence in support of a passport application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14665/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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All passport applications are subject to the terms of the Passports Act, 2008, as amended (“the Act“). The Act provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to that person. 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.

As advised in my previous response to the Deputy, entitlement to Irish citizenship should be established via the presentation of relevant official documents. DNA evidence is only considered in certain exceptional circumstances, where the applicant has verified that they have exhausted all avenues in terms of providing official or civil documentary evidence of their citizenship entitlement and there are reasonable grounds to believe that DNA evidence may be able to establish citizenship entitlement.

The Passport Service does not maintain a list of recommended or acceptable DNA testing providers. However, if an applicant wishes to pursue DNA testing, they should contact the Passport Service for guidance in advance. The onus is on the applicant to select and engage a provider, but any testing laboratory must meet the ISO/IEC17025 accreditation standard issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

It is important to reiterate that each application involving DNA evidence is dealt with on a case-by-case basis and considerable engagement is necessary between the applicant and the Passport Service to ensure all requirements are met.