Seamus Brennan
Question:94 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason for the requirement that a widowed person take out an affidavit in order to obtain a passport for a dependent child. [11123/95]
Written Answers. - Passport Application.
Under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964, the mother and father of a child born in wedlock are its joint guardians, subject to any qualifying court order. To safeguard the rights of parents as laid down in this Act, the Passport Office normally requires the written witnessed consent of both parents when a passport application is made for a person under 18 years of age. The courts have recognised this to be a prudent practice.
Special circumstances apply if one of the parents has died and the Passport Office must have regard to the terms of the Guardianship of Infants Act in this situation also. The Act provides for the right of a parent to appoint by deed or will a person to act as guardian of his or her child in the event of the parent's death. Such a person, known as a testamentary guardian, acts jointly with the surviving parent.
The Passport Office is not automatically aware of situations where a testamentary guardian has been appointed. Accordingly, if a passport application is submitted with the consent of one parent only, on the basis that the other parent is deceased, it is the practice of the Passport Office to ask the parent to sign an affidavit to the effect that she/he is the sole legal guardian and that no other person has been appointed a guardian by the courts or by operation of law.
The Passport Office is always anxious not to put applicants to any unnecessary inconvenience and the request for an affidavit in these circumstances is designed solely to ensure the level of protection provided for in the Guardianship of Infants Act.