Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs

To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Irish passports now being issued meet the criteria required to use the automatic border control machines in use in some countries including Britain; and if he will make a statement on the matter?  

Reply

There are many automatic border control machine systems in operation around the world with different criteria required to use these machines.

Some systems operate on the basis of a trusted traveller programme where pre-registration is required. Others incorporate pre-registration with other requirements e.g. in the case of US Global Entry, access is limited to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, Dutch citizens, South Korean citizens and Mexican nationals. A further series of systems operate on the basis of biometric technology e.g. IRIS in Britain makes use of the fact that the pattern of the iris in each person’s eye is unique. A registered passenger looks into a special camera at the IRIS barrier in the immigration arrival hall, and the system compares their iris pattern with others stored in a secure database. Another series of systems work by using facial recognition technology to compare your face to the photograph recorded on the ‘chip’ in a passport, an e-passport. Over the past year, the UK Border Agency have installed ePassport gates at London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Luton, Manchester and Stansted.

Irish ePassports meet the current criteria to use the ePassport gates in the UK. ePassports have been issued in Ireland since October 2006 and are distinguished by a chip symbol which appears at the bottom of the front cover of the passport book.