200 stolen or mislaid passport checks

By Mary Regan, Political Reporter

Monday, March 22, 2010

POLICE forces around the world contacted Irish authorities more than 200 times in the past two years over cases where stolen or missing Irish passports were being used.

Almost 130 people were detained in international airports last year and 87 in 2008 because they had been travelling with Irish passports that had been reported stolen or missing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said there has been an increase in these incidents "due in part to heightened security at international ports and airports and an increase in the number of border stations worldwide that are electronically reading passports."

But it said many of these cases involved people who had reported their passport stolen but subsequently found it and used it for travel. In each of the cases, the international police organisation Interpol contacted the Irish authorities to verify the identity of those found with stolen or lost passports.

"The Passport Office has been able to resolve these cases after checks of the relevant passport details against its own database were carried out," the department said.

Fears over the use of stolen documents were raised when fake Irish passports were used by members of a suspected hit team alleged to have carried out the murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai in January.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said: "The documents used by the suspects in a recent murder in Dubai were not lost or stolen Irish passports but rather counterfeit copies of an old version of the passport that is no longer issued and is currently being phased out of use."

But he warned people not to use passports previously reported missing or stolen.

"When completing the statement of loss as part of their new passport application, applicants undertake not to travel on a missing passport if subsequently found. However, a number of individuals either unknowingly or mistakenly use their previously reported lost or stolen passports. This may account for the numbers of Irish citizens who were delayed at international border control," he said.

In a written response to a Dáil question, Mr Martin said the Irish passport "is one of the most modern and secure travel documents in the world".

He said: "Since 1 October 2009 the department increased the frequency of its reporting of the serial numbers of all lost/mislaid or stolen passports to Interpol through An Garda Síochána, to daily reports. This information is then made available immediately to police forces worldwide in the Interpol database to protect against the fraudulent use of these Irish passports.

"The holders of lost/mislaid or stolen passports are advised not to use them again for any travel if they are subsequently recovered."

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, March 22, 2010