Irish citizens travelling to the United States will now be required to undergo a finger scan.
All Irish citizens travelling to the United States without a visa will be digitally fingerprinted and photographed. The new procedures will take place at Dublin and Shannon airports as part of increased security measures in 27 countries.
Almost a million people travel from Ireland to the United States every year.
Passengers travelling to the US from Ireland go through US immigration at either Dublin or Shannon airports. Today sees the introduction of special finger scanners and tiny cameras as an increased security measure. Irish citizens can travel to the US and stay for up to three months without a visa. Now, these travellers must be fingerprinted before boarding a flight to the US.
The finger scans are checked with a US fingerprint watchlist of criminal and terrorist suspects.
The US will build up a database containing the names, photographs and unique finger scans of tens of millions of visitors.
Danny Toma, Chief of the Consular Section of the US Embassy, explains that the new security measures are designed to ease travel for legitimate travellers and prevent access for those travelling for illegitimate reasons.
Within a year, over a quarter of a million Irish people will be on that database.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 30 September 2004. The reporter is Barry Cummins.
