87. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passports issued in each of the past ten years at the absolute discretion of the Minister as provided in law to people who do not have an automatic entitlement to an Irish passport by birth, descent , naturalisation and so on; the reasons for using this provision in the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44760/24]

All passport applications are subject to the terms of the Passports Act 2008, as amended (“the 2008 Act“). Section 7(1)(a) provides that a person must be an Irish citizen in order for the Minister for Foreign Affairs (“the Minister”) to issue a passport to that person.

The entitlement of a person to citizenship is governed by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, which is under the responsibility of the Minister for Justice.

The Minister does not have a discretion to grant a passport if the applicant has not satisfied him as to their citizenship and therefore is not entitled to a passport as a matter of law. The absence of discretion is confirmed by section 12(1)(a) of the 2008 Act.