Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that I had to slip out of the meeting earlier. I welcome our visitors and compliment Mr. Nugent on the significant progress that has been made in recent years. There has been a significant improvement in the service to the public.

On the issue of turning passport applications around quickly in emergencies such as bereavements or serious illness, would it be possible to extend that to people who need to travel urgently? I assume the office would hope to extend that facility at a future date.

There is an issue with the major spike in demand for applications during the two summer months. I presume one way of addressing this would be if a system were in place that would notify people in advance when their passport was due for renewal, in the same way a person gets notified about motor tax. Has that been covered?