Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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90. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his Department will consider establishing a passport office service in the north west, in view of the distance of that region from Dublin. [48805/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Passport Service provides a comprehensive range of options for citizens to apply for passports. Applications may be made by Passport Express through some 1,000 post offices across the country and some 70 post offices in Northern Ireland. This means that no Irish citizen in the State, including in the Deputy’s constituency has any significant distance to travel. Furthermore, as I have informed the House on a number of previous occasions an appointment service has been in operation at the Molesworth Street Passport Office for almost a year. The service allows customers to book a guaranteed time slot between 9:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday. The service removes the necessity for any citizen to queue and provides certainty as to the duration of time customers will wait to be seen at the public counter.

In relation to the Passport Express services, customers are given a commitment by the Passport Service that ten days from the date of receipt by the Passport Service of properly completed applications a passport will be issued. The attraction and popularity of this service is reflected in the fact that last year over 428,000 Irish citizens applied for their passports through Passport Express. This means that over 83% of all persons applying for their passports in the State use Passport Express. Demand for the service has increased by a further 5% so far in 2013.

I am satisfied that the range of service options meets the current demands of passport applicants. Moreover, given the current financial pressures on the Department’s resources, I do not believe there is a value for money basis to justify the opening of any additional regional passport office at this time.