Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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157. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will consider removing the new passport fees for citizens over 66 years. [36024/14]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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In 2011 the Government found it necessary in light of the budgetary situation to discontinue the arrangement whereby over 65’s could avail of a reduced passport fee. Were the Passport Office to reinstate this reduced fee for those aged 65 and over or for any other category of adult applicants the shortfall would have to be met by the taxpayer. The cost of exempting those aged 65 and over from passport fees was estimated in 2011 to be €2.4 million per annum in terms of lost revenue. Therefore I have no plans to introduce any such measures at this time. I would emphasise that the annualised fee for a standard Irish passport compares favourably with many other jurisdictions. At €8 per year the Irish passport fee compares with approximately €8 per year for a British passport, €9 per year for a French passport, €10 per year for a United States passport and €15 per year for an Australian passport.