Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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48. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passports issued to date in 2018; the type of passport in each case, that is, first time, renewal and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52491/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Between January 1 and November 29 this year the Passport Service issued 745,345 passports. Of these, 171,377 were issued to first time applicants and 573,968 were issued to renewal applicants. 458,908 passports were issued to adults and 286,437 passports were issued to children. The Online Passport Renewal Service was launched on 30 March 2017. From January 1 to November 29 this year 193,724 passports were issued on foot of applications made through the online service. This figure represented over half of eligible applicants. The Online Passport Renewal Service has recently expanded to include the online renewal of children’s passports, to introduce a passport card for children and to expand the cohort of adults eligible to renew online. The service brings significant benefits for citizens with faster turnaround times of 10 working days for all online applications, excluding postage. In addition, the cost of renewing a passport online is significantly cheaper than alternative methods, with fees for all online applications being reduced by €5 across all application types. The expanded service is now available to all adults and children who wish to renew their passport.

As the online service is the most convenient and most efficient method of renewing a passport, I would urge all applicants who are eligible to do so, to consider using this application channel.