Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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133. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 121 of 22 May 2025, if he examine documents and correspondence (details supplied); to advise in context of this information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35980/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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A Certificat de Coutume is a document which is required by the civil authorities in certain foreign jurisdictions before a non-national is permitted to marry in the jurisdiction in question. It is issued by the relevant authorities in the person's own country. In this country it is issued under my seal as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and signed on my behalf by an authorised officer of my Department. The Certificat states that the person is not bound by the ties of a valid marriage under the laws of Ireland and is therefore free to contract a marriage with a named intended spouse.

An applicant for a Certificat de Coutume must complete a questionnaire and provide evidence, normally in the form of a statutory declaration, that he or she is free to marry. If the applicant has been married previously, but has been divorced abroad subsequent to the coming into force of the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorce Act, 1986, then he or she must produce evidence that the application is covered by the terms of that Act and in particular that either the applicant or the previous spouse was domiciled in the relevant jurisdiction on the date of the institution of the divorce proceedings.

In the case to which the Deputy refers, this evidence has not yet been satisfactorily produced.

When such evidence is received the application will be dealt with as a matter of priority.