Do Child Benefit Officers have right to ask to send foreign passport?

I was asked to send all(including Irish, foreign,current and expired) passports to the child benefit office to check if I was entitled to get the benefit for previous payments. They want to find out exactly when I was here, when I left here etc.

Are they allowed to ask such a thing, i.e., send all foreign passports, which may be the matter outside of current Irish immigration law etc.?

Any idea would be appreciated.

''The Child Benefit claimant is responsible for the production of certificates, documents, information and evidence required, including Birth Certificates, Green Cards, passports etc..''

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/childben.aspx