Noel McCarthy (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste's response. I acknowledge the important work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the passport service in overseeing a considerable increase in the number of passports issued over the past five years. I also welcome the rise in staff numbers over the same period.

As public representatives, we often see a large rise in the number of passport queries in the run-up to the school holidays and I have no doubt this is one of the passport service's busiest periods of the year. That is why it is important additional staff are hired during this period, which the Tánaiste has acknowledged, to ensure the current turnaround times are kept and no processing backlogs emerge. What percentage of additional staff recruited for the summer period will be permanent appointments?

In addition, it is my experience from engagement with the passport service that sometimes production issues can unfortunately emerge. As such, is the Department giving any consideration to further increasing passport production facilities in the State?

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