Vol. 432 No. 7
51 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the position as to whether Irish people require a passport when travelling inside the EC; and, if so, when it is proposed that this country comes into line with other member states where passports are not required for their own citizens travelling within the EC.
While in principle, free movement of persons within the Community was to be in place from 1 January 1993, the competent Ministers have concluded that it is not yet possible to realise this objective in full as the necessary compensatory measures have not all been implemented.
The Edinburgh European Council in December 1992 took note that free movement of persons within the Community would not be completely achieved by 1 January 1993. The Council took note also of the fact that the work necessary to achieve this result was still under way. Since then further progress has been made; and competent Ministers have emphasised their determination to bring forward the work on the essential compensatory measures. These measures involve co-operation aimed at combating crime and drug trafficking and ensuring effective control of external borders.
In practice, therefore, passport checks may continue to be carried out. For this reason Irish travellers continue to need a valid passport for travel both within and outside the Community, except, of course, for travel to Britain. Even when freedom of movement is in place within the Community, it may continue to be desirable for Irish citizens to have a valid passport since this is in effect the only evidence of their citizenship in the absence of an indentity card system in this country.
