Pat Deering
Question:118. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of passport applications for persons (details supplied). [50231/18]
View answerTuesday, 4 December 2018
Questions (118)
Written answers
All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008 as amended (“the 2008 Act”). The 2008 Act provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to him/her. Entitlement to Irish citizenship is in turn determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956 as amended (“the 1956 Act”), under which and in general Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent or by naturalisation.
I am advised by the Passport Service that there is insufficient details supplied to locate an application or enquiry in respect of the persons to which you refer and so the following is by way of general advice.
A person is entitled to Irish citizenship (and therefore a passport) if they were born on the island of Ireland before 1 January 2005 or after that date subject to certain conditions. Section 6A of the 1956 Act, provides that person born in the State on or after 1 January 2005 where neither parent is an Irish or British citizen or otherwise entitled to reside in the State or Northern Ireland without restriction, may claim citizenship by birth in the State where a parent has been lawfully resident in the State for 3 years of the 4 years preceding their birth.
Furthermore, if a person was born abroad to an Irish born parent he or she is automatically and Irish citizen. If born abroad to a parent also born abroad, but whose grandparent was born in Ireland, the person can claim Irish citizenship by registering their birth on the Department’s Foreign Birth register - see www.dfa.ie for further details.
If a person cannot claim Irish citizenship through birth or descent, they may be able to claim citizenship through naturalisation, subject to certain residency requirements. This is a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality and further information may be obtained on www.inis.gov.ie.
Information on all passport related matters, including the documents required to support a claim to Irish citizenship is available on the Passport Service website at www.dfa.ie/passport.