Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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622. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of first-time passport applicants who are required, as and from 29 March 2016, to submit a copy of their public services card; if he is putting a provision in place to facilitate first-time applicants who have to wait to obtain their card and who require a passport at short notice or in emergency situations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6465/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The requirement that adults who are applying for a passport for the first time hold a Public Services Card (PSC) and submit a copy of this card was introduced from 29 March. This change is an important further step in preventing fraud and identity theft. It will ensure that the identity of first-time applicants continues to be verified to a high standard and it will help protect the integrity of the Irish passport.

In excess of 1.8 million Public Services Cards (PSC) are already in circulation and it is anticipated that many first time applicants will already hold one. People who do not currently have a card can apply via a secure registration process in person at their local Department of Social Protection office.

The processing time for first time passport applications is sufficient to allow the applicant who is not already in possession of a PSC to obtain a card through the Department of Social Protection registration system prior to the approval of their passport application.

If travel is required at short notice for urgent reasons, the Passport Service and the Department of Social Protection will make every effort to expedite the PSC registration process to allow the passport to issue and procedures are in place to facilitate this. In cases where this does not prove possible, the Passport Service will consider each application on its merits and will take extenuating circumstances into account.