Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 March 2025
200. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passports revoked by his Department in the past 20 years to date; and the reason for each time a passport has been revoked. [13064/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Passports Act 2008 provides for a number of circumstances under which the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade may cancel an Irish passport, including:
• where the Minister becomes aware of a fact or a circumstances that would have required or permitted him to refuse to issue the passport to the person had the Minister been aware of the fact or circumstance before the passport was issued.
• where the citizenship of the person has been revoked or renounced.
• on grounds of national security, public order, or public safety.
• for the purpose of securing the welfare of a child in specific circumstances.
• where the passport is, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, in the possession or control of another person.
The Irish passport has a strong international reputation and currently ranks third in the Henley global passport index, as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 189 countries. As such, the Passport Service takes its responsibility to protect the integrity of the Irish passport very seriously.
The Integrity Section of the Passport Service was established in 2015 to improve all aspects of fraud detection and prevention in order to protect the integrity of the passport. The large investment in technology and structures since the establishment of the Integrity Section has helped to improve the recording and detection of fraud.
Due to lack of records it is not possible to provide the figures requested prior to 2016. Since 2016, our records show the number of passports revoked each year as follows:
|
Year |
Number of passports |
|
2016 |
76 |
|
2017 |
82 |
|
2018 |
13 |
|
2019 |
77 |
|
2020 |
22 |
|
2021 |
31 |
|
2022 |
19 |
|
2023 |
20 |
|
2024 |
29 |
For operational and security reasons, it is not possible to disclose information concerning specific cases.
