Written Answers Nos. 744-763
744. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason for the lengthy delay in the processing of passports for children who have applied on the basis of reckonable residence of their parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42925/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Passports Act 2008, as amended, requires that before issuing a passport to a person, the Minister shall be satisfied that the person is an Irish citizen. Documentary evidence proving an applicant's identity and entitlement to citizenship are required in respect of all passport applications. Persons who were born in the State after 1 January 2005, where neither parent is an Irish or British citizen or otherwise entitled to reside without restriction in the State or in Northern Ireland, may claim citizenship by birth in the State (and thereby establish eligibility for a passport) only where a parent has a period of reckonable residency in the State for 3 years of the 4 years preceding their birth.
In order to prove the residency period of one of the parents when applying for a passport on behalf of their child, the parent must provide acceptable documentary evidence. The documents required to prove the residency period vary depending on whether the parent was an EU or non-EU citizen at the time of the child’s birth.
The Irish passport was recently ranked 6th in the Henley Global Passport Index as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 187 countries. This is something we can all be proud of. However, in order to maintain this ranking and to protect the integrity of the Irish passport, the Passport Service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship, as outlined above. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place for first time applications.
In the case of children, it is essential that the Passport Service verifies the consent of the child’s guardians before a passport can issue. This ensures that the Passport Service protects the rights of the child and their guardians.
Due to the intensive analysis and extra measures undertaken by highly trained and experienced staff, first time applications take longer than renewals. First time applications currently take 20 working days to process. This is down from 40 working days since March. In cases of applications for children whose parents are applying on the basis of reckonable residency, the process can sometimes take longer due to the need to ensure that all of the required supporting documentation to prove the child’s entitlement to Irish citizenship is submitted and correct. Due to the complexity of the documents required to prove entitlement to citizenship, further documentation from the applicant's parents is sometimes requested by the Passport Service which can add to the processing time. A dedicated team of experienced staff processes these applications within the Passport Service.
While multiple detailed checks are necessary for such applications, once citizenship has been established and a first passport has been issued, all subsequent passport applications are processed as renewal applications.
There are currently 107,000 passport applications in the Passport Service system. Of these, 1,500 are first time applications of children whose parents are applying on the basis of reckonable residency. The Passport Service is working to reduce turnaround times further for these applications.
I strongly urge parents to carefully read the documentary requirements on my Department’s website and to apply for passports for their children online in plenty of time. Passport Online can be used for all first time applications, for both children and adults, and is available to 97% of our citizens around the world.
746. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will review the process and handling of a first-time passport application for a person (details supplied). [43125/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Passport Service has issued a passport to the applicant.
The Passport Service is aware of just three other cases of a similar nature to the one outlined by the Deputy, and an investigation is ongoing. The Passport Service is in regular contact with its digital photo provider partners with a view to resolving the issue. The Passport Service regrets any inconvenience caused to the applicant.
748. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the expenses paid to Ministerial advisers in his Department in each of the years 2020 and 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43153/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Minister for Foreign Affairs has two Special Advisers.
The Minister of State for European Affairs has one Special Adviser.
The expenses of the Special Advisers are set out in tabular form below.
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
|
Expenses paid to Ministerial advisers |
€15,264 |
€33,582 |
€20,532 |
749. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the dates on which the Irish Consulate General and or the Vice Consul in San Francisco have visited Honolulu in Hawaii in 2021 and to date in 2022; and the purpose of each visit. [43180/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra750. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the dates on which the Irish Consulate General and or Vice Consul in San Francisco have visited Las Vegas in 2021 and to date in 2022; and the purpose of each visit. [43181/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 749 and 750 together.
When opened in autumn 2019, Ireland's Consulate General in Los Angeles was assigned responsibility for the US states of Hawaii and Nevada, amongst other duties.
The Consulate General works closely with the Irish diaspora in the Pacific Southwest region of the United States, including in fulfilment of Ireland's Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025. This includes providing support to Irish communities and organisations through the Government’s Emigrant Support Programme, delivering consular assistance to Irish citizens in the Pacific Southwest, promoting trade and economic opportunities, and ongoing engagement with our increasingly multicultural diaspora.
Opportunities for the Consul General to undertake travel through the totality of its consular area over the past two years have been restricted due to the pandemic. No official visit to Honolulu in Hawaii by the Consul General or the Vice Consul was undertaken in 2021 or to date in 2022.
No official visit to Las Vegas, Nevada by the Consul General or Vice Consul was undertaken in 2021; the Consul General did travel to Las Vegas on 20-21 June 2022 to meet with Ireland’s former Honorary Consul to discuss outstanding consular issues, and to plan future engagement with the Irish community there.
The Consulate General in Los Angeles is one of the new missions established under Global Ireland 2025, and will contribute to delivery of commitments in Ireland’s Strategy for the US and Canada 2019-2025.
751. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will expedite a passport application for a child (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43210/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraWith regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the application is within the current turnaround times and has not yet reached its issue-by date.
752. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reasons given by the Sudanese authorities for the refusal to give the Air Corps PC-12 (details supplied) which is currently stranded in Entebbe airport in Uganda permission to depart, given that it had received permission to depart Entebbe airport for the Democratic Republic of the Congo just a few days earlier. [43224/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraDiplomatic clearance was provided by the Sudanese authorities in response to each diplomatic clearance request submitted to the Sudanese authorities by our Embassy in Nairobi through our Honorary Consul in Khartoum. There is and was no Air Corps plane stranded in Entebbe. The Air Corps crew arrived safely home to Ireland on Friday 19th August following completion of a successful mission.
753. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason that Ireland recently contributed €407,328 to the renovation of NATO office spaces in view of the fact that NATO is an extremely well-funded organisation and that there should be no need for non-members to contribute to the upkeep of its offices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43235/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra754. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason that Ireland is incurring administrative costs of between €66,000 and €107,000 a year for rent and phone bills to pay for a staff presence at NATO headquarters given that Ireland is not a NATO member and that any support work needed by the Irish ambassador to Belgium as part of their duties as Ireland's official representative to NATO could be carried out at the Irish embassy in Brussels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43236/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 753 and 754 together.
Ireland joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP) framework in 1999. Established in 1994, PfP is a voluntary and cooperative framework for regional security cooperation between NATO and individual non-members of NATO. There are currently twenty members of the PfP framework including Ireland, Malta, Austria, Moldova, Switzerland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Over the last two decades, Ireland’s participation in PfP has been of significant importance in the development of the peacekeeping capabilities of the Irish Defence Forces and their interoperability with other potential peacekeeping contributing nations. Ireland is currently contributing to the UN-mandated, NATO-led peacekeeping operation in Kosovo. In the past, Ireland supported the NATO operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In this context, Ireland’s PfP Liaison Office works bilaterally, and in cooperation with like-minded missions, to advance Ireland's engagement in areas of common interest. In addition to capabilities for peacekeeping, these include the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, the issue of protection of civilians in armed conflict and the protection of children in armed conflict.
To manage this work, and in common with other PfP members, Ireland has an office for our PfP delegation in a NATO building in Brussels, with staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Defence and the Defence Forces.
Ireland is responsible for the costs of the running, maintenance and upkeep of this office, including renovations as necessary. These costs are directly payable to NATO.
755. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of citizenship applications for persons (details supplied) which were made through the foreign births register; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43241/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish Citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.
Demand for this service increased significantly as a result of the Brexit vote in the UK. The service was also impacted by necessary Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 and the unprecedented demand for passports seen to date in 2022.
My Department is currently putting in place a number of measures that will address the volume of FBR applications currently on hand with a view to significantly reducing the processing time for these citizenship applications by the end of this year.
Supporting documentation for the applications to which the Deputy has referred was received on 27 February 2020, and are currently being processed. A member of the FBR team has been in contact with the applicants in this regard.
756. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the engagement that he has had with the Minister for Education on the matter of school transport since June 2022; and if he will publish any correspondence shared with the Minister for Education on same. [43356/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have not shared correspondence with the Minister for Education on the matter set out, which falls under the remit of her Department.
757. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount that his Department has spent on advertising on social media in 2021 and to date in 2022; the amount spent per platform; and the campaigns per platform in tabular form. [43375/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department and its Embassy network has engaged in promotion on social media where there is important information that needs to be brought to the attention of citizens, and for the wider promotion of Ireland around the world. This includes campaigns for St Patrick's day, encouraging the timely renewal of Passports, COVID-19 travel restrictions, and the impact of Brexit.
|
Expenditure is outlined in the table below: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date |
Campaign |
Costs |
|
2021 |
|
|
|
Jan & March-21 |
Get Ireland Brexit Ready |
73,696.42 |
|
02/2021 |
Bloomsday |
38,440.89 |
|
03/2021 |
Saint Patrick's Day |
82,761.05 |
|
Jan-Dec 2021 |
Missions expenditure |
3,212.08 |
|
06/2021 |
Nordic Strategy |
873.32 |
|
09/2021 |
Brexit Exporters Campaign |
3,024.16 |
|
12/2021 |
Brexit digital media |
1,270.91 |
|
Total 2021 |
|
203,278.83 |
|
|
|
|
|
2022 |
|
|
|
Jan - Aug 2022 |
Missions expenditure |
926.89 |
|
07/2022 |
Covid -19 Travel |
70,146.79 |
|
03/2022 |
Expo 2020 Dubai |
60,099.92 |
|
03/2022 |
Saint Patrick's Day |
141,343.67? |
|
07/2022 |
Consular Assistance |
36,382.66 |
|
04/2022 |
Global Ireland campaign |
2,519.52 |
|
05/2022 |
Europe Day Campaign |
11,401.39 |
|
Total 2022 |
|
322,820.84 |
758. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are plans to increase the hours that the webchat service is available on the Passport Office website. [43393/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Passport Service Customer Service Hub is available to respond to customer queries by phone and webchat. Both the phone and the webchat service are available between the hours of 9am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
The Customer Service Hub has handled over 280,000 queries to date this year and is currently handling over 12,000 customer contacts each week. Throughout the month of July, when demand was particularly high, the Hub handled over 15,000 contacts per week.
The webchat service is currently operating with no wait time for customers and over 99% of customers are reaching a webchat operator each day via webchat. The phone service is currently answering 100% of unique calls each day. This means that virtually all customers who need to speak directly to the Passport Service either on webchat or by phone are having their queries answered within our current operating hours.
While there are no current plans to increase the operating hours of the webchat service, the Passport Service will continue to consider ways to enhance customer experience in the provision of this essential citizen service.
762. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the continued imprisonment of a person (details supplied) continues to be raised at an international level with particular reference to the need to introduce some semblance of democracy in their homeland and that their release from prison is arranged at an early date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43479/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland is deeply concerned by the continued detainment and politically motivated verdicts against Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and others in Myanmar.
Recent trials have been held behind closed doors. Proceedings appear to be an attempt to exclude Aung San Suu Kyi and democratically elected leaders from future political engagement in Myanmar, contrary to the inclusive approach called for by ASEAN's five-point consensus. On 2 September, the courts sentenced both Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint to a further three years imprisonment with hard labour, on charges of electoral fraud. Cumulatively, Aung San Suu Kyi now faces a total 20-year sentence, with further cases outstanding. Ireland supports the EU's condemnation of these sentences and its call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.
Ireland has made five national statements on Myanmar since the coup and has consistently called for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained by the military since the February 2021 coup. We continue to raise this issue at sessions of the Human Rights Council and in our capacity as members of the UN Security Council.
Ireland has joined statements by the European Union and the United Nations Security Council expressing deep concern at the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and others. Ireland condemns these verdicts and believes they represent another step towards the dismantling of the rule of law and a violation of human rights in Myanmar.
Myanmar remains on the agenda of the Council and has been considered nine times since the coup. Most recently, the Security Council issued a statement on 27 July condemning the execution of four pro-democracy activists in Myanmar. This statement called for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ireland continues to support avenues for a political solution to the crisis in Myanmar and urges immediate implementation of the five-point consensus. We support ongoing work by UN Special Envoy Heyzer and ASEAN's Special Envoy to Myanmar, and encourage their close collaboration. Following UN Special Envoy's recent first visit to Myanmar, we hope that subsequent visits will offer both Envoys the opportunity to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ireland emphasises the importance of a united response to this crisis. In particular, we need to recognise the importance of engaging ASEAN and other partners in the region to ensure an effective, appropriate, and sustainable outcome to the crisis. Through the UN and our Embassy network, we are encouraging all those who have influence on the military leadership to use it to find a political resolution to this devastating crisis and protect the human rights of the people of Myanmar.
763. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the details on the total amounts of monies awarded to Louth County Council by his Department in each of the years 2016 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; if he will seek details on the total monies drawn down and spent by Louth County Council over the same years in tabular form, and if not spent, the total monies that were returned to his Department respectively over the same years in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43520/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails of funding allocated by my Department to Louth County Council from 1 January 2016 to date in 2022 is set out in the table below. None of the funding was recouped and all of the funding was spent.
|
Year |
Description |
Amount |
|
2016 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2017 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2018 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2019 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2020 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2021 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2022 (To date) |
Africa Day activities and events in the local community |
€7,500 |
