Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. They are all good questions. On passports, we essentially have not had the Passport Express system working. Decisions were made on the basis of a significant reduction in applications and because we needed to ensure the protection of our own staff in passport offices. That is why the focus has been on getting the online process back up and running. If somebody has put in an application under Passport Express and if they want to get their passport back quickly, they should apply online. From next week on they will get a response very quickly. We are going to put the Passport Express service in place again in time but it is going to take a little bit longer because of the staffing challenges, social distancing requirements and so on. We will get back to normal on passports in the coming weeks and months, but from next week on, we should have fast turnaround times again on the online applications. For those who have made an application through Passport Express, the way to get their passports done quickly is to apply now online and we will reimburse the money they have put into Passport Express.

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