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For Written Answer on : 25/10/2022
Question Number(s): 567 Question Reference(s): 53591/22
Department: Justice
Asked by: David Stanton T.D.
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QUESTION


To ask the Minister for Justice if she has taken into consideration the possible impact of the recently enacted Birth and Information Tracing Act 2022 on the entitlement to Irish citizenship by birth in Ireland of persons who were living in another jurisdiction and who were unaware of their birth history until the Act came into force; the possible subsequent impact on children and grandchildren of such persons; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Where a person has received documentation or can otherwise support their claim as having been born in Ireland to an Irish citizen parent, that person is entitled to Irish citizenship from birth, whether or not he or she was subsequently adopted.

Additionally, a person born outside the island of Ireland can also become an Irish citizen if one of their parents was an Irish citizen at the time of their birth and that parent was not born on the island of Ireland. In these circumstances, the person can become an Irish citizen through Foreign Birth Registration (FBR). Once a person is entered onto the Foreign Births Register they are an Irish citizen and entitled to apply for an Irish passport. The Foreign Births Register is the responsibility of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Further information at be found on that Department’s website here:

https://www.dfa.ie/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/

In the situation where a person was adopted, then they will continue to hold rights to Irish citizenship through either their birth parents or their adopted parents, if one was an Irish citizen.  Where a person who was adopted by an Irish citizen was not already an Irish citizen from birth, under section 11 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, the adoption will need either to be done by an Irish adoption order or to be recognised and and registered as an intercountry adoption with the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI). More information is available here on their website; https://aai.gov.ie/en/who-we-are/inter-country.html

An adopted person in this situation may then apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs for an Irish passport.