§ Sir A. HOLBROOKasked the Home Secretary what formalities are required from British subjects resident in the Free State when asking for passports; and is 651W he aware that when an application was recently submitted by a colonel in the British Army for passports for himself and his sister he received his passport immediately, but that for his sister, then resident in the Metropolitan district, was submitted to the Irish Free State Government, as she had disclosed the fact that she was born and permanently resided at Lifford, in County Donegal?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREI have been asked to answer this question. At the present time passports are issued to British subjects, who are resident in the Irish Free State, by the Passport Office in London on the recommendation of the Free State authorities, to whom the application for a passport should be made in the first instance; if such persons apply direct to the Passport Office in London, it is necessary to refer their cases to the authorities in Dublin. I hope, however, that in the next few weeks the Free State Government will be in a position to issue passports in Dublin in the same way as passports are issued by the other Dominions' Governments. As regards the second part of my hon. and gallant Friend's question, I am aware of the case to which he refers. The difference in treatment between the lady and her brother was due to the fact that,prima facie, the lady was domiciled in the Irish Free State and, in such cases, it is the practice of His Majesty's Government to grant passports only after consultation with the competent authority of the Irish Free State, in accordance with the usual procedure which obtains in regard to persons domiciled in a Dominion and only temporarily resident in this country; her brother, however, was, apparently, domiciled in this country, and, therefore, received his passport without delay in the usual manner.