Written answers

Thursday, 24 March 2022

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Passport Services

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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241. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when a passport will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15724/22]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the Passport Service has issued the passport to the applicant.

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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242. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount collected in passport application fees in the past ten years to date; and the breakdown of the fees collected in respect of first-time applications, renewals, emergency passports and so on over the same time period. [15729/22]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The total amount of passport fees collected by the Passport Service since 2012 is outlined in the following table.

A breakdown of the fees collected by application type as requested by the Deputy is not available as our current system does not easily facilitate this. This is further complicated by the many other factors which would need to be taken into consideration including the channel used to apply for the passport, where the person resides and if there was a reduced fee applied when a bundle of passport book and passport card were applied for at the same time.

Year Passport Fees Collected
2012 €39,634,921
2013 €38,369,783
2014 €39,055,198
2015 €42,051,536
2016 €46,744,825
2017 €50,227,847
2018 €51,379,655
2019 €53,612,645
2020 €26,745,948
2021 €40,258,356
2022 (to date) €13,841,356

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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243. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will reduce the price of a passport in the context of the impact of inflation across other aspects of the cost of living. [15730/22]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The current fees for a standard Irish passport are outlined in the following table.

The fee for a standard ten year adult passport through Passport Online is €75. There is an additional €5 charged for ten year adult passports through An Post’s Passport Express service. The Passport Express fee of €80 has remained unchanged since 2009, when it was raised by €5. When broken down annually across its 10 year validity period, the passport costs €8 per year.

The introduction of Passport Online in 2017 reduced fees for all online passport applications by €5. Passport Online can be accessed by all first time applicants, irrespective of age, both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. All Irish citizens, including children, can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world. The Passport Online Service is four times quicker than paper-based applications for adult and child renewal applications and is the fastest, easiest and safest way to apply for a passport. Over 90% of applicants now apply online compared to 47% of applications received online in 2019.

The cost of the standard online ten year adult Irish passport compares favourably with many other jurisdictions. The fee of €75 breaks down to €7.50 per year, compared with €9.20 per year for a British passport, €8.60 per year for a French passport, €11.80 per year for an American passport and €20.65 per year for an Australian passport.

Given that any shortfall in revenue would have to be met by the taxpayer, a decision to reduce the application fee would require careful consideration.

Passport Online Passport Express, via An Post
Adult (standard 10-year passport) €75 €80
Child (standard 5-year passport for those under 18) €20 €30

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