Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to thank Senator Conway for that further information. I will ask the office in the Department of Foreign Affairs to contact the Passport Office directly. I am not promising anything, only that I will follow up on the matter to the best of my ability. Ultimately, the decision has to be made by the relevant deciding officers, and we all know I should not interfere in a particular case. However, I will make strong inquiries as a result of what has been said here today.

Senator Conway has indicated that there is an Australian parent. The child was born in Malaysia, and is now in Ireland, so there are three countries involved, and the delay may not be on the Irish side. It could be on either the Australian or Malaysian sides, and we will ask our people to make direct contact on the case. I understand the child was born prematurely, which had not been expected, and it is an exceptional circumstance. There was a big backlog, the numbers increased, more staff has been allocated, and the numbers now being dealt with have reduced the waiting period from up to two years down to approximately six months. I know for people who are born in the UK, it is easier to deal with, with the common law jurisdiction. It is the extra countries that can add to complications, but we will do everything to make inquiries, and will come back to the Senator directly on that.