Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Passports are very important and issues with them can affect people as they travel for work or leisure. The passport offices work flat out to ensure that applicants' needs are met. A total of 220 extra staff have been employed in the passport offices. There is an unprecedented demand for passports and the Passport Office has taken a number of initiatives to address it. The office has shown an ongoing commitment to innovation and reform. I commend the members of staff in the passport offices in Cork and Dublin who do Trojan work.

It is also important to recognise, as Senator McFadden outlined, that there is an online passport service. I used the service and received a passport card in a timely fashion. I also had the pleasure of visiting the Cork passport office where I filled in my information on a machine, sat down and took a number to wait. I was interviewed within half an hour, after which I filled out the necessary paperwork and received my passport in jig time. This was done for me without fuss after I walked in off the street.

While I accept that there are people who have difficulties with passports, we must commend the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the staff in his office on the work they do in ensuring people are facilitated when emergencies arise and they need to travel for medical or humanitarian reasons. It is unacceptable for a Senator to engage in grandstanding on this issue.

The backlog in processing passports is being addressed. I reiterate for the Senator, who perhaps does not want to hear good news, that 220 extra staff are employed in the passport offices. It is important to recognise that demand for passports is increasing. The number of passport applications received in the first four months of 2018 was 10% higher than in the same period last year and 25% higher than in the same period two years ago. I accept that we need to do more but let us not play politics with the issue. A great deal of work is being done.

Senator Gabrielle McFadden raised the important issue of Project Ireland 2040 and the €4 billion funding commitment. This is a sign of the Government's ongoing commitment to the revitalisation of the State.

I thank Members for their contributions. As the summer recess approaches, I look forward to five productive weeks in the Houses. Much work remains to be done and there will be some late nights. I thank Members and staff and look forward to everyone's co-operation during the next five weeks.