Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 55: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, further to Parliamentary Question No. 68 of 28 June 2011, if he will support a matter (details supplied). [21488/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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As you are aware from the reply to your Question No. 68 of 28 June 2011, the Department wrote to the applicant's parents on 30 April, 2011 and again on 16 June 2011 to explain its decision in this case. I can confirm that there is no record in the Passport Service of a reply from the parents. Accordingly, there has been no progress with this application since 28 June, 2011.

If the Deputy is aware of any additional information that the parents may have provided (or if they intend to so), they should contact Mr. Paul Evans, Passport Officer in the Passport Office in Molesworth Street (tel. 673.3035) for direct and immediate assistance.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 56: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the deterioration in the service provided by the Passport Office and the difficulties citizens are experiencing by not only struggling to get a member of staff on the telephone but in exercising their right to travel as a result of substantial delays in the office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21493/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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There are currently 41,223 passport applications in the system, which are being processed by the Passport Offices in Molesworth Street, Balbriggan, Cork and London. This is down by 10,019 (24%) on the figure of 51,242 which was given in reply to Question no. 76 of 12 July, 2011.

This reflects an improved situation in passport services with the turnaround period for Passport Express applications, for instance, at 11 working days which is down from 15 working days. The combined measures of the recruitment of temporary staff, the use of overtime and the redeployment of staff and work within the Passport Service continue to be effective in bringing passport service levels back to normal.

These efforts should be seen in the context of the number of applications received so far this year. Year to date demand on all passport services is 12% up on 2009 levels. The figures for 2010 are not a reliable comparison due to the impact of last year's industrial action. In addition, the Passport Service received an average of 3,300 applications per day last week which is down from a daily average of around 4,000 applications for the months of May and June. This reduction provides some evidence that passport demand is beginning to ease. This trend is expected to continue as progress is made towards the end of the traditional summer season. The decrease in demand on passport services in the coming weeks will help our ongoing efforts to bring all passport services back to their standard service levels.

However, this reduction is still not reflected in the unprecedented demand for passports at short notice. It is not unusual for over 400 people to submit applications for a short notice priority passport service at the public office in Molesworth Street. In the context of these very high and unpredictable numbers of customers using the public counter service, it is clearly not possible, despite the best efforts of the Passport Office staff to be of assistance, to accommodate all requests for a short notice service. Citizens are advised that the public counter services should only be used in cases of genuine emergency. Priority at the public counters will be given to those who have a verifiable necessity to travel for reasons of family emergency i.e. travel is necessitated by the death, illness or welfare of a family member.

It should also be stressed that to protect the integrity of the system and the quality of the passport, the Passport Service cannot provide standard passports within a single day. The shortest turnaround time available, other than in cases of genuine emergency, is three working days for applications received over the public counter, accompanied by proof of travel. Priority will continue to be given to applications made through the Passport Express Services and Irish-based customers are strongly encouraged to use that service. Notice of the current extended turnaround time and its likely duration has been published on the Passport Service website www.passport.ie. The Passport Office has also informed An Post so that customers can be advised of the situation at the point of application.

The overwhelming numbers of applications that have been submitted through the ordinary post passport service or those that have been made through Ireland's overseas Missions are currently taking over 6 weeks to be processed.

I would like to express my regret at the length of time that it is taking to deliver all passport services to the customers of the Passport Service. However, I would strongly appeal to the public to assist the Passport Service by checking the validity of their passports well in advance of making bookings to travel abroad. A valid passport should be the first item on any check list when considering foreign travel.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 57: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason a person (details supplied) in County Antrim was denied an Irish passport by the Passport Office and told they must apply for naturalisation. [21546/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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There is no record of an application for the person in question in the passport system. If the person concerned was born in County Antrim, he is an Irish citizen by virtue of that fact and, as such, he has entitlement to an Irish passport. There would, therefore, be no need to apply for this person to become a naturalised Irish citizen.

If the person concerned wishes to apply for a passport he should submit a fully completed and correctly witnessed application to the Passport Service. It is recommended that the applicant avail of the express services offered by An Post in the Republic and the Post Office in Northern Ireland.

If the Deputy has any further details in relation to the dealings of the person concerned with the Passport Service, I would be grateful if he could forward them to me.

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 58: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will review a matter in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry. [21653/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I can confirm that the fee for applications submitted through ordinary post is an extra €15, which is €6.50 more than those applications submitted through Passport Express, allowing for the Post Office charge of €8.50. The new fee was brought into effect by the Statutory Instrument 47 of 2011, which was advertised in the national press before its implementation on 11 April 2011.

The difference in the fees charged is designed to encourage people to submit their applications through the Passport Express Service. The logging of the application by the Post Office enables the Passport Service to provide a much more efficient service of registration, tracking and production than applications submitted through the ordinary post. However, it is ultimately the choice of the customer which service they select. Applications submitted by ordinary post are, at present, taking six weeks and reducing.

Advertisements outlining the price increases were published in national newspapers. Notifications of the price increases were also displayed in the public offices of the Cork and Dublin Passport Offices. Details of all passport fees are also available on our website.