Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 March 2019
116. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason a passport for a person (details supplied) has not been issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10312/19]
View answerAll passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008. The Act provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to him/her. In order to meet this, each person must demonstrate an entitlement to Irish citizenship by providing acceptable documentary evidence of this entitlement.
Entitlement to Irish citizenship is in turn determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which and in general, Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation.
An individual born on the island of Ireland before 1 January 2005 is automatically an Irish citizen. For individuals born outside of Ireland, they may claim citizenship if they had at least one parent who was born in the island of Ireland.
In addition, individuals born outside of Ireland can claim citizenship through a parent who was not born in Ireland but was an Irish citizen at the time of the individual's birth, or through a grandparent born in Ireland. Individuals who wish to claim citizenship through these means must have his/her birth entered on the Foreign Births Register. Citizenship commences after inclusion on the Foreign Birth Register.
I understand that an application for inclusion on the Foreign Births Register has been submitted on behalf of the person in question. This application is currently being processed by the Passport Service. Once the Foreign Births Registration process has been completed, an application can be made for a passport.
