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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 27 May 1993

Vol. 431 No. 5

Written Answers. - Passports Issue.

Michael P. Kitt

Question:

34 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the expense involved in relation to the issuing of new passports for spouses, the costs and delays in adding on children to passports and the abolition of the one year passport for the over 65 years old age category; and if he will simplify the procedure in view of the number of people involved.

The background to the issues raised by the Deputy is set out below. Given the reasons for the various changes. I would not propose any amendments at this stage. However, overall procedures for issuing of passports are kept under review.

(i) Spouses Passports: The issuing of joint passports to husbands and wives was discontinued in October 1992. Under the joint passport system, the spouse was not entitled to travel separately from the passport holder; it was found that, in practice, problems regularly arose when the spouse needed to travel independently. The provision of separate passports allows greater flexibility in travel and also brings Ireland into line with general international practice.

(ii)Adding Children to Passports: The present procedure was introduced in July 1988, when it was decided to laminate the children's section of the passport. The purpose of lamination is to prevent fraudulent inclusion of a child on a previously issued passport. The change in format means, however, that it is no longer technically possible for the Passport Office to add child details to a passport after issue. Instead, a replacement passport is issued for the unexpired period of the original passport; the fee charged is £15, one-third of the normal passport fee.
(iii)Abolition of one year passport for over 65's: This change was introduced because of the transition from handwritten to Machine Readable Passport (MRP) which is currently under way.
With handwritten passports, there is flexibility to extend the validity period after issue. However, MRPs are the international norm; they have a number of advantages, including considerably enhanced security in passport production. The design and layout of MRPs are determined by international agreements, which require that a fixed expiry date be established at the time the passport is issued.
In order to prepare for the introduction of MRPs, it was decided in October 1992 to replace the existing one-year renewable passports for under 18's and over 65's with a three year non-renewable passport costing £10. Although these new passports cost £5 more at time of issue, they remove the inconvenience of annual renewals and represent a saving of £5 over the life of the passport.
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