Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 May 2017
164. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to amend the current passport card system to ensure that a passport card will be valid for a full five years from the date of issue for all dates on which a valid corresponding passport book exists (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22498/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe passport card, which I launched in October 2015, can be used by Irish citizens for travel within the EU/EEA and Switzerland. The card is available to all Irish citizens who are over 18 years and hold a valid Irish passport book.
The passport card is a supplement to the passport book, as such, identity and entitlement requirements are assessed on the basis of the passport book application rather than on the card application itself. For this reason, the validity of a card cannot exceed that of the passport book on which verification of entitlement and identity was last established.
All passport cards are issued with a validity of five years or until their passport book expires, whichever comes sooner. In order to alert applicants to these parameters, when a passport card is due to expire in fewer than five years, the applicant is advised of the expiry date of the new passport card by way of information notice, generated on-screen by the application system. In this way, the Passport Service ensures that all applicants are fully aware of the expiry date of their new passport card in advance of finalising their application and can choose not to proceed with the application at that stage, if they so wish.
