Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 June 2013
167. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedural requirements in order to qualify for an Irish passport in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28603/13]
View answerWhere sections 6A and 6B of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, are applicable, a child born in the island of Ireland on or after 1 January 2005 has an entitlement to Irish citizenship if, at the time of the birth of the child, one of his or her parents had, during the period of four years immediately preceding the person's birth, been resident in the island of Ireland for a period of not less than three years or periods the aggregate of which is not less than three years. Periods of unlawful residence, periods of residence which were for the sole purpose of having an application for refugee status determined or periods of residence where permission was granted for the purposes of study are excluded from the determination of periods of reckonable residence. Entitlement of a child to Irish citizenship is determined by the Passport Office following receipt of an application for a passport on the child's behalf. Where a child born in the State did not at birth have an entitlement to Irish citizenship, the parent or guardian or person who is in loco parentis to the child may lodge an application for naturalisation on behalf of the child. The parent must satisfy the conditions for naturalisation including having five years reckonable residency in the State since the birth of the child i.e. the child must be five years of age at the date of application. An application for a Certificate of Naturalisation may be made by a naturalised parent on behalf of their minor child. The parent of the person concerned lodged applications for a Certificate of Naturalisation in 2006 and 2008, which were unsuccessful. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
