Gardaí have delivered a “major blow” to a Romanian crime gang after they uncovered a “manufacturing hub” for the production of false passports.

The gardaí are not in the grip of a flawed culture, despite a string of high-profile “sleazy” controversies, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has insisted.

EU nations have given final approval to a new European visa data system which will store biometric information on 70 million visa-holders who pass through the EU’s borderless travel zone.