Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know Senator Buttimer will. I turn to the issue of passports. I will make a number of political points and observations but I assure the Acting Leader that they are not directed at him. They are more for his colleagues at the Cabinet table. I welcome the growing cross-party support and recognition of the need for additional passport offices to try to help to deal with the issues, which we are all aware of, especially a new, dedicated office in the Six Counties. Derry City and Strabane District Council recently passed a motion tabled by my colleague, Councillor Emma McGinley, calling for an office in the North.

I know other councils across the Six Counties will debate similar motions in the coming days and weeks. The reality is that the second highest concentration of applications in Ireland is in County Antrim. That increase from the North has been evident and consistent for some years. If people in this Chamber were not aware of it, they should have been, because I have raised it consistently in recent years. Senators can imagine my dismay when I read reports on RTÉ and subsequently heard in news bulletins that the Government would consider it "politically tricky" to open an office in the North. How would it be politically tricky and for whom? As the Acting Leader knows, politics is the art of the possible. When the Tánaiste, who was Taoiseach at the time, said that an Irish Government would never again leave citizens in the North behind, I do not remember there being a caveat of "unless it is politically tricky". Article 2 of the Constitution states it is the birth right and entitlement of everyone born on this island to be part of the Irish nation. I have never read an addendum stating, "unless it is politically tricky".

The Government has grade A office space in Belfast. It also has a significant residence in Belfast. They are both used for positive engagement with people and I respect the workers there, doing that work. Though the darkest days of conflict, Fáilte Ireland had an office in the centre of Belfast when it was a much more volatile and dangerous city. We cannot deny citizens services they are paying for simply because it is politically tricky. More than 27,000 people have signed my online petition calling for this. Political parties are calling for this. It makes sense. Can we get on and do it?