Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised)
3:20 pm
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
On the issue of the emergency passport response, consideration should be given to emergency response for a fee. However, it is important to pitch that fee at the correct level. If a family is going on holiday it can happen that one member of the family has an out-of-date passport. This can result in the person staying at home or the entire family staying at home. The critical issue is the extent of the fee charged. Is should not be prohibitive - it should cover the cost of the emergency passport facility but should not be so high as to close the whole thing down.
On the Irish overseas, I welcome the funding to the GAA. What about rugby, soccer and other Irish bodies abroad? Do they benefit to the same extent or to any extent? Hockey is becoming a very prominent issue.