Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste. Most of the instances we deal with - I am sure it is the same throughout the House - relate to people who submit an application but receive notification from the Passport Office that something is not right or, very often, that the person who provided a signature on a consent form is not contactable. Typically, that is a garda. This can be an issue. We have Garda stations that are open 24-7 but we also have many Garda stations that are only open for certain office hours and the landline is answered for only a couple of hours a week. This can cause an issue when somebody gets a form signed at one of these locations, with something that was not urgent at the start then becoming urgent. It is a bit like snakes and ladders, with people ending up right back at square one. The Department of Justice has a job to do with Garda opening hours in that regard, and there is also a legislative case for allowing civilian Garda staff to be part of this process, freeing up gardaí. In the meantime, though, there should be some mechanism for the Passport Office to ensure people are not starting right at the start again in order to fix the issue that arises because a witness, that is, the garda, is not contactable.

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