Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people to use Irish passport cards at eGates.

To be eligible for entry via an e-gate at present, a traveller must hold a machine-readable biometric passport. Cards are not compatible.

The Government has an ambitious vision for the future UK border, in which most people crossing the border will experience an e-gate style arrival, using automation as their only point of contact.

We continue to look at options for expanding the use of e-gates to cohorts of passenger not currently able to use them.