Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not mean to contradict the Minister of State, and I appreciate him coming to the House today, but I have had experience dealing with people who feel this service is being provided on a piecemeal basis. The Minister of State mentioned towards the end of his contribution that information is taken into consideration. Parents who want to get their child a passport must send in their own passports and this is caught up in the system. All their certificates and everything that they supply is caught up in the system. There is no guarantee of return when they look for documentation back because, for example, they need their own passport returned. If I look for a passport for my child because he has something going on at the end of the year and I send in my passport but it gets tied up in the system, I would not be able to get my passport back, unfortunately.If one had to get one's passport in an emergency, one would be told that within 30 days of reopening, it would be fished out. That is not good enough. We are talking about a small number of staff. Level 5 will continue possibly until early April. As has been indicated, there will be some exceptions for some building projects and I would seek to have the Passport Office included at that point, if not before. I hope the Minister of State will push that strongly.