Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There has been a spike in demand for Irish passports since the Brexit vote. Figures reported by RTE yesterday show that over 700,000 passports have been issued this year to date. Of that 700,000, some 117,000 are from the UK and of that figure, 59,000 are from Northern Ireland. It is time for us to consider locating a passport office in a rural area like County Monaghan, an area that is unique in that it adjoins three Northern counties, Armagh, Tyrone and Fermanagh. Geographically it is ideally placed. It would be a positive statement by the Government given the ongoing difficulty the Border region faces, even more so after the Brexit vote and the leakage in retail spending we are currently experiencing. I ask the leader to bring this to the attention of the Minister so that he might seriously consider locating a passport office in County Monaghan in the not too distant future.