Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are all dealing with the same issues here, the main one being the waiting times. The Minister spoke previously about streamlining the process, particularly for first-time applications for children, although I accept the necessary due diligence must be done. We all accept that there is a need for additional resources, including staff and technology, to make sure we can deal with the large numbers of applications going through the system.

There is a particular issue with consent forms. Sometimes they are signed by a member of An Garda Síochána and contact must be made by the Passport Office with gardaí to verify same. The Passport Office must make three attempts to make contact but sometimes gardaí cannot find the particular book, the form cannot be signed off and people have to go through the process again. That is a difficulty and we need to find a solution. I accept that the process should be improved by the gardaí themselves but we need to find a solution.

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