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

Senator Gallagher's proposal, which makes absolute sense, has the unanimous support of the committee. I propose that we should write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to ask him to ensure the proposal gets urgent and favourable consideration. The whole idea of Brexit has knocked the stuffing out of communities. Those of us who grew up in Border parishes thought we had left behind the era of permanent vehicle checkpoints and Border controls. Any move by the Government to ensure a new facility is provided in the Border community to serve a large part of the country would send a very good message. I am sure the passport service draws in enough revenue to fund a large part of its outgoings. Senator Gallagher and I know from our experience and from speaking to colleagues of all parties from the Northern half of the country, that people have shown a huge interest in seeking and demanding information about passports. Every day of the week, we receive calls from all over Northern Ireland and elsewhere regarding passports. I think that as the number of people making applications continues to grow, the numbers that have been mentioned here today will be exceeded considerably. With the agreement of the committee, we will write to the Minister to outline our strong support for Senator Gallagher's proposal.