What’s in a name? Possibly the chance of getting two passports and double-dipping into Australia’s work holiday visa program. The Immigration Department is investigating allegations that Irish nationals are using their native language to con the Australian visa system, according to a report in The Irish Independent

In a statement to The Irish Independent newspaper, the Australian department said it was "aware of and is investigating a migration fraud involving Irish applicants using new passport features to access Australian visas". The department is investigating claims that Irish citizens are using passports issued in their Gaelic names to double-dip on working visas in Australia, states the report.

Almost 90,000 people have emigrated from the Republic of Ireland to Australia since the start of the global economic downturn in 2008, according to Ireland's Central Statistics Office. The number appeared to peak in 2012, when an estimated 18,200 emigrated to the other side of the world.

But Australia’s Immigration department has indicated that is not aware how widespread the scam is or for how long it has been used.

According to the report, the department believes that Irish emigrants have been obtaining passports in their native-language forms of their name, in many cases completely unrecognisable to non-Gaelic speakers from its anglicised spelling and pronunciation.

The new passport then allows the worker to obtain a working visa after their previous one has expired and they are no longer eligible to live and work here, with Australian authorities thinking they are dealing with a new applicant.

Irish citizens are entitled to a second passport featuring the Gaelic version of their name if it appears on their birth certificate or they can convince their nation's Foreign Affairs department they have been using their Irish language identity in their everyday lives for at least two years.

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it was taking steps to ensure the right to an Irish language passport was not abused by its citizens in identity fraud.

Ireland is not currently on DIBPs list of countries included in the biometrics program which among other things uses digital finger-printing to identify applicants.