Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire. It is a fair point. I know from memory and from previous postings that quite a bit of work has been done to try to improve the feedback loop, as Deputy Ó Laoghaire correctly referred to it, but based on this discussion, I will undertake to speak to the Minister for Justice on this to see whether more can be done or needs to be done. I know Deputy Ó Laoghaire agrees on the point about the integrity of the process and the importance of valid photographs, valid verification processes, signatures and so on to protect the integrity of the Irish passport. That is important, but we must also make sure that bureaucracy is kept to an absolute minimum. In fairness to the passport service, it has been a real leader in the public service in terms of being willing to transform and move services online, and we are seeing the benefits of this for all our constituents now. I will take away the point Deputy Ó Laoghaire has made and I will come back to him in writing on it.

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