Biometric passports with finger printing will be introduced on a pilot basis by October, according to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern.
The inclusion of iris identification at a later date is also under consideration, Mr Ahern told the Dáil as he confirmed that Irish citizens would be able to make passport applications online under a new issuing system that has cost €27.5 million to date.
Applicants will be able to submit their personal information through the internet but signatures, photographs and documentation to confirm their identity will still have to be submitted by post or in person.
He added that in the longer-term the department would discuss arrangements for "providing a complete online passport application service, whereby passport applications could be submitted in full through the public services broker, which would provide the necessary level of authentication necessary for the passport office". Under the new system those who have applied for passports will also be able to check the status of their applications online.
When the system is fully implemented "Ireland will have one of the most advanced and secure passport systems in the world", Mr Ahern said.
He told Paudge Connolly (Ind, Cavan-Monaghan) that the Government had made a decision to introduce passports containing biometric information to comply with EU regulations and US legislation and "to ensure that Irish citizens are able to transfer with ease in and out of the United States.
"Funding has been provided in the estimate for the introduction of biometrics and we hope to produce biometric passports with finger-printing on a pilot basis by October," Mr Ahern added.
Mr Connolly called for the system to be improved for people in Northern Ireland who had difficulties when they went to Garda stations.
"Gardaí at Pearse Street station in Dublin, for example, will not know a person from Co Down who presents to them and will tell him or her to go to Dundalk Garda station," he said.
The Minister emphasised that "we must be extremely careful regarding proof of identity".
