Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The charge is substantial. I am aware of a number of cases involving people who had to travel abroad not on holiday but to attend to business or family matters such as a bereavement. In counties such as my home county of Cavan, which has a history of emigration, many people are affected by deaths and bereavements of loved ones in Britain. Many elderly people do not have a passport and when a bereavement occurs abroad and an elderly person applies for a passport, he or she will not have evidence of travel arrangements because it is not possible to book a flight until details of the funeral arrangements become available. Families have been put through the wringer and required to provide a letter from a hospital or undertaker stating that a person is deceased. The facts, as presented, should be taken at face value. It would be helpful to have this issue ironed out.