offtopic & in english (and only in Ireland…)
From The Irish Independent, Saturday 28th March 2004
(and, by the way, the thinking behind this whole story is about as Irish as it gets… no offence to anybody)
Gruss, Isabel
LOST passports returned by finders to the passport office are to be immediately cancelled for security reasons from now on.
A total of 25,000 passports are lost every year - and up to now, those that were found and sent on to the passport office were then forwarded to the rightful owner.
But this practice has been struck out in order to ensure that the highest security standards are followed, especially in the current climate of international terror threats.
Terrorists and criminals have been known to steal passports for illegal use and the routine cancellation of returned passports is another step towards combatting this.
A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said: "If a person registers their passport lost with gardai, then it is automatically cancelled.
"But the ones that were found and returned to the passport office were previously sent back to the person if they had not registered it lost.
„This will not be happening anymore and now any returned passport will be automatically cancelled.“
An exact breakdown of the 25,000 lost and stolen passports is not available from the passport office on Dublin’s Molesworth Street.
But a significant number of passports were lost by young people on nights out, according to pub and club owners.
Many young pub-goers carry their passports and use them as a form of ID as proof of age for doormen.
As the night out wears on and more drink is taken, they often lose them or leave their coats - with the passport inside - behind them. There is also a high risk of passport theft in this situation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs advised younger people to carry some other form of ID instead of a passport on a night out, to minimise the risk of loss or theft.
Brian Spollen of Spirit nightclub on Dublin’s Middle Abbey Street said that two to five passports are left in his club alone every weekend.
And a source in the passport office said they were receiving high numbers of returned passports that had been left behind in city nightspots.
The move to cancel returned passports comes as part of a Department of Foreign Affairs €22m project to upgrade the passport system in Ireland.
Due to a significant increase in the numbers of passport applications in recent years - there are now 3.75 million Irish passport holders - the overhaul was badly needed.
When it was launched in February, Foreign Affairs Minister Brian Cowen said: „This project will deliver a world-class passport system that meets the highest standards of security, efficiency and customer service.“
Later this year, Irish passports will contain a stiff plastic page capable of holding biometric information - such as fingerprints and iris scans - with a view to complying with US legislation ordered as an anti-terrorism measure.