Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 315: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department has carried out a study of opening hours of public offices under the control or remit of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32005/07]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 317: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the opening hours of his Department's public offices and public phone lines and if they close for lunch; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32055/07]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 318: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the opening hours for the public offices and telephone lines and if they close for lunch for each of the agencies and State bodies that are under the control of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32070/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 315, 317 and 318 together.

My Department has a number of public offices and telephone services available to the public. The Passport offices operating in Dublin and Cork have public opening hours from 9.30 until 4.30, Monday through Friday. There is also an 'out-of-hours' emergency service which operates in the evenings and at weekends. The telephone lines responding to regular Passport queries operate from 9.00 until 5.00, after which phone calls are re-directed to information about the emergency services provided.

My Department also provides a Consular Services office for document authentication, certificates to marry abroad, applications for citizenship through Foreign Births registration. The public office is open 9.30 — 1.00 and 2.30 — 4.00. Telephone queries are also answered from 9.30 — 1.00 and 2.30 — 4.00, Monday through Friday.

The telephone service to the Department of Foreign Affairs is operated on a 24 hour basis, seven days a week. Ireland currently has a network of 75 resident diplomatic and consular Missions abroad and 87 Honorary Consulates. The opening times of these public offices vary from location to location, in accordance with local custom and practice. Our diplomatic Missions also operate an 'out-of-hours' emergency service which operates in the evenings and at weekends. There are no agencies or State bodies which operate under the control of my Department. There are however a number of advisory groups operating under its aegis: the Advisory Board for Development Cooperation Ireland; the Development Education Advisory Committee; and the Díon Committee (which advises on support for our emigrant communities in Britain). As advisory bodies, they do not operate public offices or independent phone lines.

The Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange (the Fulbright Commission), has autonomy of management and administration in accordance with the Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991. I understand that they operate a telephone service from 9.00 until 5.15, Monday through Friday, but that they do not have a public office. My Department has not carried out a specific study of opening hours of public offices under my control or remit. However, opening hours are kept under regular review, to ensure optimum service to customers.