Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

88. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the timeline for the hiring of the planned extra staff at the passport office in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4132/19]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The staffing levels of many units in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and its missions overseas have been augmented in response to Brexit.  My Department has strengthened the capacity of the Passport Service by recruiting additional permanent staff to respond to the general increase in passport applications.  Those staff are located in the Passport Service offices in Balbriggan, Cork and in Dublin city centre.  In addition, the normal seasonal intake of Temporary Clerical Officers has already commenced.

In Cork specifically, half of the intake of additional Clerical Officers have already commenced employment and the remaining cohort of new officers will join the office in February.  All of the Temporary Clerical Officers assigned to the Passport Service office in Cork for 2019 have already started their contracts.