15.— (1) Subject to this Act, the Minister may, on application in that behalf to him or her in accordance with section 6, issue a passport (in this section referred to as an “emergency passport”) to a person if the Minister is satisfied that—

(a) a passport that was issued to the person has been lost, stolen or damaged or is temporarily unavailable or the person does not hold a valid passport,

(b) the person provides evidence of his or her intention to undertake travel immediately for which a passport is required, and

(c) by reason of the circumstances of urgency in relation to the application, there is insufficient time in which to issue a passport other than an emergency passport to the person.

(2) The Minister may, on application in that behalf to him or her in accordance with this section, issue an emergency travel certificate (in this section referred to as an “emergency travel certificate”) to a person where—

(a) there is reasonable cause to believe that the person is or may be an Irish citizen,

(b) there is reasonable cause to believe that—

(i) a passport that was issued to the person has been lost, stolen or damaged or is temporarily unavailable, or

(ii) the person does not hold a valid passport,

and

(c) the person provides evidence of his or her intention to undertake travel immediately, but, by reason of the circumstances of urgency in relation to the application, the person is unable to comply with the requirements of this Act regarding the issue of a passport to him or her.

(3) An application for the issue of an emergency travel certificate to a person shall be—

(a) made in such form as may be specified by the Minister, and

(b) accompanied by such information and documents in relation to the person as the Minister may require for the purposes of the application.

(4) An application for the issue of an emergency travel certificate may be made on behalf of—

(a) a child, by a parent or guardian of the child, and

(b) a person who is suffering from a physical or mental incapacity, by a person duly authorised to act on his or her behalf.

(5) An emergency passport shall be valid for such period of less than one year as the Minister considers appropriate.

(6) An emergency travel certificate shall be valid for such period as the Minister considers appropriate to enable the person in respect of whom the certificate is issued to undertake the journey in respect of which it is issued.