Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
721. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will consider amending children's passports to include the full name of the child's parents or guardians given that the changing nature of family composition and the reduction in women adopting a married name means that many children do not share the surname of their parent which in turn creates difficulty for travel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19674/22]
View answerA passport is an internationally recognised travel document which attests to the identity and nationality of the bearer. All passport applications are subject to the terms of the Passports Act, 2008, as amended (“the Act“). The Act provides a legal basis for the various policies and procedures that are applied by the Passport Service in the issue of passports.
Section 10 of the Act provides that a passport will issue in the name of a citizen as it appears on his/her birth certificate or naturalisation certificate.
The Passport Service does not have any plans to expand the purpose of a passport to indicate a parental relationship between a child and his/her parent(s).
Parents are encouraged to complete the emergency contact details page at the back of their child’s passport which may assist in this matter, in particular for those parents and children with different surnames.
