Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I urge the Minister, as I did on Committee Stage, to be conscious of the very elderly and people on invalidity benefit, many of whom are not in a position to attend to have their photograph taken. The Minister mentioned using existing passport photographs but the reality is that many very elderly people do not have passports because it was not the custom to travel abroad when they were younger. I have had several cases where people who wished to fly to Britain using Ryanair could not do so because they did not have a passport. For some of them, securing one would be a significant inconvenience. We must ensure that where very elderly people do not present to have their photograph taken, their pensions will not be affected and every effort will be made to liaise with and accommodate them.