Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 November 2020
224. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Passport Office has ceased processing passports for children during level 5; and if this renders it impossible for families with children who need a new passport from exercising their right to travel in which they honour all due restrictions for the destination. [35849/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Passport Service has paused processing of routine applications as Ireland is at Level 5 of the National Framework for Living with COVID-19.
The Passport Service continues to provide an essential, emergency passport service at this time for Irish citizens, including children, at home and abroad. An emergency service is available for those who are required to travel due to the death or serious illness of a family member or because the applicant requires emergency medical treatment.
A weekly service is also in place for citizens who require a passport for urgent travel.
All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act, 2008 (“the Act”). Section 14 of the Act provides, among other things, that for a passport to issue to a child under 18 years of age, the consent of all the child’s guardians must be received by the Passport Service.
Passport applications for children have specific witnessing requirements in respect of establishing the child applicant’s identity and establishing that consent for the issuance of a passport from all the child’s guardians has been granted.
Applicants who require a passport for emergency purposes or for urgent reasons should contact the Passport Service via the Webchat function on our website. Our Customer Service Hub continues to respond to customer queries and can give advice about how to make an application in an emergency or in urgent situations.
The Passport Service has a comprehensive plan in place to resume all services, in line with the National Framework for Living with COVID-19. This provides for the resumption of processing of routine applications received via the online service at Level 4. The Passport Service plans to resume processing of routine paper based applications such as Passport Express, Northern Ireland Passport Express and applications for Foreign Birth Registrations at Level 3.
