Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to develop an additional passport printing facility for the passport office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17590/19]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service located in my Department is one unified service composed of 3 constituent offices located in Mount Street, Dublin, in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin and in South Mall, Cork. 

The Passport Service operates three passport printing machines, two of which are located in our main production facility in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin and one located in the Passport Office in Mount Street, Dublin.

All applications are processed through the centralised Automated Passport Service (APS).  This means that all production facilities can print a passport irrespective of what channel the application was processed.  This printing system allows for flexibility between printing machines if any one machine has reached capacity. Each passport printer has a printing capacity of 250 passports per hour.

The three current printing machines are meeting the Passport Service printing demands and, indeed, have additional capacity.  Therefore I am satisfied at this time that there is no requirement for an additional printing machine.