Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 31 Jan 1995

Vol. 448 No. 3

Written Answers. - Birth Certificates for Passports.

Peter Barry

Question:

51 Mr. Barry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason it is necessary for applicants for passports to present their long birth certificates; and if he will amend the regulations to allow passports to be issued on production of a short birth certificate or some other proof of date of birth. [2050/95]

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

First-time applications for passports and those in respect of minors must be accompanied by the long form birth certificates; however, in the case of applications for renewal (other than minors) a previous passport is accepted instead of a birth certificate. This means that, in practice, birth certificates are required in only about 50 per cent of applications.

The requirement that applicants produce the long form of their birth certificate is important in helping to reduce the risk of fraud. The short form of the birth certificate states the district where the birth was registered but does not list the place of birth nor the date of registration, neither does it list the parents' names nor the father's occupation. These details — which are supplied on the long birth certificate — can be important in dealing with certain applications, especially those by or on behalf of children, and experience shows that they can be crucial in detecting attempts at fraud.

Under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964, the father and mother of a child are its joint guardians, subject to any qualifying court order as provided for in this Act. To safeguard the rights of parents as laid down in the Act, the Passport Office requires that the written witnessed consent of both parents be obtained when an application is being made by or on behalf of a child. The long form of the birth certificate provides evidence that those giving consent are in fact the child's parents.

In the case of an adopted child, the Passport Office requires not only the written witnessed consent of the child's guardians but also proof of the child's Irish citizenship. Under the terms of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, a child who is not already an Irish citizen becomes one upon an adoption order being made under Irish adoption law, provided that at least one of the adoptive parents is an Irish citizen. The long form of the birth certificate issued in such cases indicates not only the names of the adoptive parents — which enables the validity of the consents to be checked — but also the country of birth of the child. If it transpires that the child was not born in Ireland, the parents are required to prove that at least one of them is an Irish citizen. The short form of the birth certificate would clearly not be sufficient in these cases.

The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, provides that Irish citizenship shall not be conferred on children born in Ireland to persons who, at the time of the children's births, are entitled to diplomatic immunity in Ireland. It is therefore important for the Passport Office to establish the occupations of parents. That is best done by seeing the long forms of birth certificates.

The Passport Office is anxious not to put applicants to any unnecessary inconvenience; however, passports are important and valuable documents and the application procedures must reflect this. In particular, passport applications by and on behalf of children must continue to be processed very carefully because of the number of sensitive issues relating to parents' rights to which they can give rise. I would therefore not envisage a change in the existing requirements as suggested by the Deputy; however, the situation will be kept under review and I have asked the Passport Office to monitor any problems for applicants arising from present procedures.