The staffing levels of many units in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and its missions overseas have been augmented in response to Brexit. My Department has strengthened the capacity of the Passport Service by recruiting additional permanent staff to respond to the general increase in passport applications. Those staff are located in the Passport Service offices in Balbriggan, Cork and in Dublin city centre. In addition, the normal seasonal intake of Temporary Clerical Officers has already commenced.
In Cork specifically, half of the intake of additional Clerical Officers have already commenced employment and the remaining cohort of new officers will join the office in February. All of the Temporary Clerical Officers assigned to the Passport Service office in Cork for 2019 have already started their contracts.