Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

The Minister mentioned an increase of 13.8% in the number of passport applications being processed this year. However, it is highly unlikely that the increase is due to people going on holiday. Rather, it is down to people emigrating because Government policies have left them with no hope.

I have a number of concerns. For example, that it still takes 15-20 working days to process a passport application is not good enough. I welcome the important agreement between the Government and the public service, as the situation was frustrating for those seeking passports. We all remember the queues earlier this year. As someone who attends the Passport Office on a weekly basis, that applicants must still spend hours queuing is frustrating. It is also frustrating for the staff. Every time I have been in the office, I have seen an argument because of people's frustrations. This problem must be eliminated.

What options is the Minister considering to speed up the process? Doing so would be important. Has the Minister taken on temporary seasonal staff and how many are there? We are in the height of the season for people seeking passports.

In a parliamentary question some time ago, I asked the Minister whether he had progressed his proposal to establish an additional passport office outside Dublin. Speaking as someone who deals with the offices in Cork and Dublin, the former seems to be running more efficiently. I do not know whether this is because the Minister is from Cork.

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