Passport Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Colm Burke (FG), Cork North-Central

One of the problems we find is that people going on holiday, for example, in July, apply for passports in May, when, in fact, they could have easily applied in February or March. The Department might consider bringing forward the awareness campaign to early January or February. It is something that needs to be looked at to encourage people to apply well in advance of the time they intend to travel.
In relation to photographs, one of the common issues that comes up, especially with very young children, is the difficulty a parent has in trying to get a child to stay still for a photograph. It is one of the concerns that comes up quite a bit, and it can delay an application quite substantially. Can we look at that issue as well, as regards how we can expedite that whole area?
I again thank the Department and the Passport Office for the work they are doing and for dealing with situations where there are serious issues, especially when someone wants to travel for health reasons or to support a family member who is unwell in another country. I very much appreciate the help that is given to them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01