Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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264. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason the Passport Office does not appear to accept forwarded pdf statements of reckonable residence from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration given that the Department routinely sends emails on receipt of such requests; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17904/26]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008 ("the 2008 Act"), as amended. The 2008 Act provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to that person.

Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 ("the 1956 Act"), as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation. The 1956 Act is under the remit of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration.

When processing a first time passport application, the Passport Service must validate the identity of the applicant and confirm their entitlement to Irish citizenship. It is the responsibility of the Passport Service to protect the integrity of the Irish passport process. As such, a rigorous process is in place to validate the identity of applicants and to confirm their citizenship status. Part of this process is the verification of original documentation.

Passport applications that involve the calculation of reckonable residence can be complex. The Passport Service has a dedicated team of highly skilled and experienced entitlement officers who review these applications and engage directly with the applicant to ensure that all required supporting documentation is submitted.

The Passport Service has contacted the Deputy with a view to providing additional support to a particular applicant if required.

Applicants with further queries can contact the Passport Service Customer Service Hub for assistance at +353 1 671 1633, or via the webchat service: www.ireland.ie/contactpassportservice/.