Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it is a very good system. I personally visited the call centre in Limerick last year and the calls were coming in at a rate of knots. While I was there, the clock was showing queries increasing and there was a separate facility on the screens showing queries coming in from public representatives. The centre was very active. In 95% of cases where there are difficulties, it is always found that something was wrong with the application from day one.

On the question about a new passport office, first, the Irish passport is ranked as one of the best in the world in terms of security, as evidenced by the fact that America allows for preclearance leaving Ireland from both Dublin and Shannon airports. The US only provides that facility to a handful of airports in Europe. It is because of the integrity of the Irish passport. Part of that is due to the very tight centralised system to maintain the passport's integrity.

I do not have the figure but 99% of all applications are now made online. Very few people call to the office in Dublin to make inquiries. More than 90% of applications are online. I visited the office and I was shocked at how few members of the public feel the need to walk into the office any more.