Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. Like the previous speakers, I compliment and acknowledge the tremendous work of our offices and embassies abroad. Some 320 Irish people died abroad last year. When a Deputy gets a phone call informing him or her of such a death, he or she contacts the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a representative of which contacts the family of the deceased within minutes. That phone call from the Department to an individual who might have lost somebody abroad means an awful lot to the family and I wish to acknowledge that, as well as the tremendous work done by departmental officials abroad in dealing with serious injuries or deaths. I recently dealt with a case where there were no Irish diplomatic, embassy or consular staff in a particular country but the embassy in a neighbouring country dealt with the incident very effectively and did tremendous work, which I wish to acknowledge. As mentioned by previous speakers, the Minister plans to open six new missions abroad. What are the criteria for choosing where to open those missions and what determines whether they will be full embassies or mission offices?

On passports, I compliment the staff of the Passport Office. I have had occasion to contact the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, in a panic regarding passports. However, 780,000 is a huge number of passports to be processed and the staff in the office must be complimented. They have not seriously let anyone down in terms of providing a passport and I compliment them in that regard. I welcome the Minister's comments in regard to being able to apply for a passport online from anywhere in the world. That is a brilliant service as passports previously had to be sent to people's family homes.

One issue on which I hope the Chairman will give me latitude on is the possibility of allowing online applications for driving licences. If one can apply for a passport online, why can one not do so for a driving licence? I was contacted this week by a young lady living in New York whose driving licence has expired. Unfortunately, she is there illegally and cannot do without a driving licence. It is the first thing for which one is asked when stopped by a police officer. There is to be a clampdown on people in the United States who do not have their driving licence with them when stopped by a police officer and such people are going to be pulled in. I appreciate this point does not directly relate to the issues under discussion but I ask that the Government find a solution to that problem such that people abroad will be able to renew their driving licences online. I am not saying that one should be able to make a first-time application online but the Government should come up with a solution to give Irish people living abroad a chance to renew their licence. It is a huge issue which I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, has encountered while dealing with the Irish abroad. I know of a case involving a young person who had to come home from Australia to renew his Irish driving licence and then fly back out again. Will the Government please give some consideration to that issue, in honour of God?