New laws to cover range of offences on misuse of passports

New passport legislation will include offences and penalties for the fraudulent acquisition, misuse and abuse of passports, of which 38,713 were lost or stolen last year.

The Passports Bill 2007 provides a new offence of knowingly using somebody else's passport to attempt to gain admission to a bar or licensed premises.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Michael Kitt said the legislation would also address the consent of parents living apart, provision of passports in Irish or English, and for persons undergoing a gender change.

Mr Kitt said 4.2 million Irish passports were in use and 630,000 were issued last year, compared with 468,000 in 2003.

He said the case of the Colombia three highlighted the need for "specific legislation to cover passport offences".

Biometric Irish passports had been introduced, he added, which included facial measurements and characteristics.

"Although there are no plans to include a second biometric identifier such as fingerprints or iris patterns, there is a possibility that this may become standard international practice at some point in the future and cannot be ruled out."

Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman Billy Timmins called for the introduction of passports to be compulsory, linked to the births and deaths register. A small insert could be included in passports, like a laser card, "that can be taken out and used as identification locally. One of the reasons so many passports are lost is that young people carry them when going into a public house".

Kathleen Lynch (Lab, Cork North-Central) said: "The notion that we are only now putting the issuing of passports on a statutory basis is staggering . . .

"The idea that someone would apply for a passport because they need identification for all sorts of purposes is outrageous and should not be allowed."

Sinn Féin spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh expressed concern about the proposal to refuse to issue passports. This "gives the Minister dangerously extensive powers of discretion with no transparency". Mr Ó Snodaigh recognised that "at times there may be a need for that power to exist.

"However, the problem is there is no guarantee that in the case of a refusal to grant a passport or the withdrawal of one, the Minister would have to issue a clear and detailed statement of the reasons for the decision."

Martin Mansergh (FF, Tipperary North) said that "not everything has been clarified" in the case of the Colombia Three, travelling "possibly on false passports". Dr Mansergh added that "the brother of one of those men is a well-known journalist.

"I do not mean to apply this to that person only but it is a pity that the media demands a degree of accountability of politicians which it does not apply to itself when an awkward situation arise.

"I recall an incident last autumn where various documents leaked to a leading national newspaper were destroyed and court proceedings ensued.

"I am being careful not to name individuals outside the House but one of the people I referred to appears to have a very close relationship with a leading witness in a tribunal. There appears to be a concerted effort to throw any type of allegation at the Taoiseach to try to bring him down.

"Given that the lead witness is domiciled outside the country and could not possibly have knowledge of the background to the allegations being made, it is clear there must be a person or people guiding his hand."

The Passport Bill goes to committee stage in the Dáil next week.