Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As part of the National Payments Plan objective to increase the use of secure and efficient electronic payments methods and reduce reliance on cash, from the 15 July 2019 cash will no longer be accepted at the Passport Service public counters in Dublin and Cork. Payments from that date onwards can only be made via Credit/Debit card, Postal order or Bank Draft. This decision was taken for a number of reasons including for staff security and safety, to improve efficiencies, to simplify account and record management, to reduce the risk of fraud, loss or error and to reduce costs.

Credit /Debit card information presented on the passport application form can only be accepted for means of payment if the customer has the card to hand at the counter appointment. This is because the card needs to be inserted into the chip and pin payment system to be correctly processed and for payment to be accepted. Cash will still be accepted as payment at post offices across the country for Passport Express applications.