asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will consider transferring authority for the issuing of passports to county, borough and corporation managers, thereby making it more convenient for people to apply while at the same time making it virtually impossible for false applications to succeed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Passport Applications.
8.
As the Deputy is no doubt aware, Irish passports are issued in this country only by the Passport Office in Dublin. It has not been my Department's experience in recent years that members of the public have suffered delay or inconvenience in obtaining application forms direct from the Passport Office or in the case of applicants who live outside Dublin from the Garda Síochána, returning the completed forms in the same way, or in receiving their passports when issued.
I do not feel that it would serve a useful purpose to follow the Deputy's suggestion that local authority officials be empowered to issue passports. I do not see how it would speed up the process. In terms of security, staffing and the keeping of records, it is desirable to have this function carried out in one central office. I am also satisfied that having passports issued on a local basis would have no effect on the making of fraudulent applications.
Does the Minister consider it fair that people in his constituency or in my constituency are obliged to come to Dublin to have a passport if it is needed in a hurry? In many countries the local clergyman issues passports. The identification of the person can be better checked out at local level than at a central location. Because bureaucracy says so, people have to travel from the north, west and south to Dublin and have to queue for three or four hours to have a passport issued. Does the Minister consider this fair?
I did not think that people had actually to come to Dublin to collect a passport. If the relevant forms are sent in I understand the passport is issued without requiring the personal attendance of the person at the Passport Office.
That is not the point. In many cases emergencies arise and people have to apply for passports in a hurry. Is it beyond the Department to agree that someone in a responsible position such as a county manager or a city manager would be in a much better position to establish the identity of the person applying and make it easier for that person to get a passport in a hurry? Why should we not try to make it easier for the people, rather than sticking rigidly to the rules of the Department of Foreign Affairs?
It is not necessarily to make it easier for the Department of Foreign Affairs. A number of points have to be taken into consideration, including the increase in the number of fraudulent passports in circulation. There is a greater chance of eliminating that possibility when there is one central authority for issuing passports. That is the primary concern in this case.
We cannot debate this matter.
If I were not so well known in the Passport Office, I could present myself at that office with somebody else's birth certificate——
We cannot have an argument on the matter.
The Minister has said that there is better protection when there is a central authority but I am disputing that.
This is turning into a debate and it is not in order at Question Time.
I am asking a question. I am asking the Minister if he will agree that a county manager would be in a much better position to check the identity of the person applying for a passport? It has happened — newspaper reporters have done it — that a person can go to the Passport Office with somebody else's birth certificate, an illegally filled in application form and a photograph and come out with a valid passport? It could not happen at local level.
I must make it clear that at Question Time we cannot have long statements or long questions.
There is the possibility of fraud in any system. A guarantor must sign a passport form. I would not like the House to get the impression that there is no further check on people who act as guarantor for applicants for passports. Obviously they are not all checked but there is an extensive spot check carried out.
Arising from the recent court case, can the Minister assure the House that security arrangements for the printing of passports will be improved upon?
That is a separate question.
Would the Minister accept that the recent increase in the cost of purchasing a passport is totally out of line with present day cost increases and is another form of taxation?
That is a separate question.
I should like to ask a final supplementary.
I am sorry, I am going on to the next question.