Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
138. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 128 of 5 December 2017, if a baptismal certificate is sufficient for a person who wishes to apply for an Irish passport, for example, if the person has the baptismal certificate of his or her parents but not the birth certificate. [55129/17]
View answerAs outlined in the Department’s previous parliamentary question on this matter, all passport applications are subject to the provision of the Passports Act, 2008 which provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to him or her.
Each person must demonstrate an entitlement to Irish citizenship by providing acceptable documentary evidence of this entitlement. In the case of a person claiming citizenship through an Irish born parent, a passport applicant must submit their own original birth certificate and the original birth certificate of one of their Irish born parents, through which they are claiming citizenship.
A baptismal certificate is not acceptable. Replacement original birth certificates are however acceptable. Further information on how to apply for a replacement original birth certificate can be obtained from the HSE-run website www.certificates.ie. Should the applicant wish to seek any further clarification on the matter, Nuala Ni Mhuircheartaigh at the Passport Service will be happy to assist. She can be contacted on 01 6733018.
