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4 2008

Passports Act 2008

PART 1

Preliminary and General

Short title and commencement.

1 .— (1) This Act may be cited as the Passports Act 2008.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

Definitions.

2 .— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“ Act of 1988 ” means Data Protection Act 1988;

“ applicant ”, in relation to an application for a passport, means the person in whose name the passport will be issued if the application is granted;

“ automated data ” has the meaning it has in section 1(1) of the Act of 1988;

“ biometric data ” means automated data comprising of information—

(a) relating to distinctive physical characteristics of an individual, and

(b) which may include measurements of such characteristics,

that may be processed for the purpose of verifying the identity of the individual to whom the data relate;

“certificate of birth” means—

(a) a document issued under section 13 (4) of the Civil Registration Act 2004 in respect of an entry in the register of births,

(b) a certified copy of an entry in the Adopted Children Register maintained under section 22 of the Adoption Act 1952 which is issued under subsection (11) of that section,

(c) a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in a foreign births entry book or in the foreign births register, both of which are kept under section 27 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 , and which is duly authenticated as such,

(d) a document purporting to be a copy of an entry in the Register of Foreign Adoptions issued under section 6 (7) of the Adoption Act 1991 , or

(e) a document issued in accordance with a civil system of registration of births in the place where the birth occurs;

“ child ” means a person who is under 18 years of age other than a person who is or has been married;

“ data ” has the meaning it has in section 1(1) of the Act of 1988;

“ emergency travel certificate ” shall be construed in accordance with section 15 ;

“ guardian ”, in relation to a child, means a person who—

(a) is a guardian of the child pursuant to the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 , or

(b) is appointed to be a guardian of the child by—

(i) deed or will, or

(ii) order of a court in the State,

and has not been removed from office;

“ Irish citizen ” means a person who—

(a) is an Irish citizen under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004, or

(b) acquires Irish citizenship under those Acts or any other enactment;

“ Minister ” means Minister for Foreign Affairs;

“ passport ” means a passport issued, or deemed under section 27 (1) to have been issued, under this Act;

“ passport appeals officer ” shall be construed in accordance with section 19 ;

“personal data” has the meaning it has in section 1(1) of the Act of 1988;

“ prescribed ” means prescribed by the Minister by regulations under section 4 ;

“ processing ”, of or in relation to information or data, has the meaning it has in section 1(1) of the Act of 1988.

Service of notices.

3 .— Where a notice is required to be sent or given to a person under this Act, it shall be addressed to the person concerned by name and may be sent or given to him or her in one of the following ways:

(a) by delivering it to the person;

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for correspondence relating to the application for the passport concerned has been provided to the Minister, at that address;

(c) by sending it by post to the address at which the person ordinarily resides or, in a case in which an address for correspondence relating to the application for the passport concerned has been provided to the Minister, to that address.

Regulations.

4 .— (1) The Minister may by regulations provide for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

(2) Regulations under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(3) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Expenses.

5 .— (1) The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(2) The expenses incurred by the Minister for Finance in the administration of this Act shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.