235. Deputy Seán Barrett asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to introduce powers to revoke passports in circumstances in which a person is charged with paedophilia offences here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48691/17]

There are provisions in the Passports Act 2008 (“the Act”) which provide a legal basis for the Minister to refuse to issue a passport or to cancel a passport and require its surrender.

As set out in more detail in the reply recently provided by my Department to PQ 39822/17, one of the grounds in the Act for refusal of a passport is where the Minister is notified by the Courts Service of a court order requiring a person to surrender his or her passport and to refrain from applying from a passport.

The Act also provides, at section 18, for the circumstances in which a passport may be cancelled. These include cases where the Minister becomes aware of a fact or circumstance that would have required or permitted refusal of a passport.

Any refusal to issue a passport or decision to cancel and require surrender of a passport must be evidence-based and defensible in the case of legal challenge. The Passport Service does not have any statutory power to impose or monitor travel restrictions on a passport holder.