Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 13 Feb 1991

Vol. 405 No. 1

Written Answers. - Passport Application.

Bernard Allen

Question:

50 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason an Irish citizen living in Washington with a Norwegian passport has been told that he will have to wait between 12 and 18 months for an Irish passport even though he is an Irish citizen and his mother is living in Cork city at the present time; and if he will outline the procedures whereby passports can be obtained in a shorter period.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Collins)

I am informed by the embassy at Washington that it has, at present, no passport application from an Irish citizen living in Washington, who is holder of a Norwegian passport. The average length of time which should be allowed for the processing of a passport application by the embassy in Washington is two to three weeks, if the documentation is in order.

The embassy did recently receive an inquiry by telephone from such a person living in New York. In accordance with normal practice, the inquirer was advised to apply to the Irish Consulate General in New York.

I have been informed by the Consulate General that they did not in the event receive any passport application. It is the case, however, that delays have arisen in that office in recent times because of a significant increase in all forms of passport related work. In order to deal with these delays, priority was given to the issue of passports to Irish born people who do not have an alternative passport for travel purposes. This resulted in a backlog of applications from Irish citizens who are already in possession of a passport of another state but who wish to have an Irish passport. However, an extra head of staff has been employed recently and the backlog has already been substantially reduced. In fact the present delay in the processing of applications of this type is less than two months.