Mr. Joseph Nugent:

Young people do it on a Saturday night. That is the biggest problem with regard to this issue. Notwithstanding that, in the case of people who have lost passports and who seek to travel at short notice, it does not give us much time to verify a person's identity. That is the reason that although express services are provided, they are not provided for people who have lost passports. Such a system is not uncommon around the world. It is a question of balance between ensuring that fraudsters are not using the opportunity to steal somebody's identity and allowing people to travel in circumstances in which not a huge amount of time is available. The Tánaiste said last week that he wanted to seek ways in which we can expand the emergency service. We are committed to doing something about that. I have not worked out exactly how we will do it, but the Tánaiste, the Department and I have made a commitment that we will do something about this, and we will try to do something in advance of the summer peak. How expansive or extensive that service will be has to be measured against a range of conflicting priorities. We do not want to introduce a service that facilitates somebody in stealing another person's identity or equally provides somebody with an opportunity to abduct a child and take him or her outside the State.

I know they are extreme examples but they occur, unfortunately, and we need to protect against them. Equally, we do not want to discommode individuals who are in the system. It becomes a cycle if some are prioritised and others who are pushed back suddenly need to be brought further up the queue. We know there is a gap in that service and it is something we are committed to try to address.

I was interested in Deputy Durkan's comments concerning Teachta Dála. I did not know that and I will try to find out why that is the case.