Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I ask the Taoiseach whether the Minister for Foreign Affairs will take time today to make a statement to the House about how he intends to manage the disruption being experienced by citizens who wish to obtain passports at the Passport Office. The Taoiseach is aware that every citizen is constitutionally entitled to a passport and to travel. Those rights are being denied to citizens at the moment. Has the Government considered a situation in which it fails to deliver on the constitutional imperative for so many citizens? If a person who wants to travel abroad with his family books a holiday and pays the airline but cannot travel because he cannot get a passport, there is clearly a case for him to receive compensation from the Government, as he has lost money through no fault of his own. How does the Government propose to manage the delivery of its constitutional responsibility to provide passports and uphold the right to travel for people who want to leave the country?

What is the Government's response in cases in which people have clearly followed the procedures and have not had their passports delivered, thus incurring losses from money paid to airlines and so on through no fault of their own? They followed the procedure but their passports have not been sent. The Government has failed to deliver on that constitutional imperative.

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