John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some extra staff and resources have been given to the Cork region. The passport service received sanction this year for 236 temporary clerical officers to be appointed to the passport offices in Dublin and Cork in accordance with the requirements of each office. Of these temporary clerical officers, 30 were sanctioned for the Cork passport office. In addition, 13 clerical officers have joined the Cork passport office's permanent staff since the beginning of the year. An assessment was carried out by the Cork office and it requested these staff. An additional 43 staff have been employed by that office. The indications are that the cost of a machine would be astronomical, €1.7 million. This would not include staff, security, maintenance, technical fit out of the machine and rental costs. That is why an assessment was made in Cork and Dublin.

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