Vol. 547 No. 1
179 Mr. Currie asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if representations (details supplied) have been made regarding the opening of a passport office in Northern Ireland; the progress which has been made in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1760/02]
Representations have been made to me in relation to the matter raised by the Deputy.
My Department is considering a number of options to improve the service to persons resident in Northern Ireland, including the possibility of opening a Passport Office there and the introduction of a ‘Passport Express' type service. While the former is under consideration, the immediate focus is on the latter option. In this regard, discussions are ongoing between representatives of my Department, An Post and Consignia, the UK Postal Authority. If these discussions are successfully concluded, I hope an express service for the residents of Northern Ireland might be introduced in the coming months, ideally in advance of the peak summer season.
Passport Express, which in this jurisdiction is operated jointly between my Department and An Post, provides a ten working day postal return service to applicants. Since its introduction in 1995, this service has been a great success and now accounts for more than 68% of total passport applications made in Ireland. Of the total of 394,637 applications received last year, more than 269,000 were made by Passport Express.
The number of passport applications received from persons resident in Northern Ireland has been increasing in recent years. A total of 23,060 applications were made in 2001. To improve the service to the public, the Passport Office has ecently introduced a number of measures including a Lo Call number – Telephone 0845 8504321 – through which it may be contacted by persons resident in Northern Ireland; the provision of passport information on the Department's website www.irlgov.ie/iveagh; and the establishment of an e-mail query and passport application form request service available at passport@iveagh.irlgov.ie. The anticipated addition of an express postal service in Northern Ireland will be of considerable benefit to applicants from that jurisdiction.
