Written answers

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Passport Services

Photo of Séamus KirkSéamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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53. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to open a passport office in Dundalk, County Louth, to cater for the northern half of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27632/14]

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Passport Service provides a comprehensive range of options for citizens to apply for passports. An appointment service has been in operation at the Molesworth Street Passport Office for over a year. The service allows customers to book via a simple web based system 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. Over 200 people per day avail of this service during our peak times. A similar service commenced operation in Cork Office earlier this month. The primary purpose of these public offices is to accommodate those with urgent travel needs.

However the vast majority of applications annually are 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 on the island need travel a significant distance to renew a passport. The attraction and popularity of this service is reflected in the fact that so far this year over 94% of all persons applying for their on the island have used Passport Express.

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.

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