Passport Services Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01 ============================================================ Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central I thank Senator Nelson Murray for raising the matter this morning. At the beginning it is important to thank the staff in the Passport Office both in Dublin and Cork for their courtesy, professionalism and patience. I also thank the staff in the Minister, Deputy McEntee's, office. As the Senator rightly said, the most frustrating part of the summer season is the demand for passports as many of our fellow citizens prepare to travel. It can happen that people suddenly discover the passport is out of date or not in order, which leads to panic. I would strongly support the Senator's suggestion. As the Senator knows, the Government has invested considerably in modernising, improving and protecting the Irish passport, along with the environment and systems that underpin service delivery for citizens. The passport service continually works to enhance the service and provide efficiencies for customers under the passport reform programme. The passport service, and indeed the Ministers in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, take every opportunity, as we do this morning, to remind citizens to check their passport validity. Each year the passport service proactively plans for the demand forecasted for the year ahead. Part of this involves an extensive public communications campaign to encourage citizens to apply, through passport online, in plenty of time for their passport prior to travel. This year's campaign focused on driving awareness among citizens, particularly parents of newborns - as we know getting a first passport is a very lengthy process - and young children, that passport online is the fastest, easiest and most cost-effective way to apply for a passport. In recent years, the successful campaign in December and January has been highly effective in motivating citizens to apply in the early part of the year, well ahead of the busy summer travel season. The passport online service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is available to citizens all over the world. The advice this morning is for people to check their passport well in advance of travel. The passport service's programme of reform will continue throughout 2026 and next year, with the delivery of several highly complex and transformational projects that are necessary to future-proof service delivery, enhance the customer experience, ensure business continuity, and safeguard the integrity of the passport. As we have said, the Irish passport is a very cherished document. Successful delivery of these projects will ensure that Ireland remains at the forefront of passport processing worldwide. Last Friday, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, launched a redesigned and modernised new Irish passport book and card. This project has also encompassed the replacement of high-security printing machinery required for passport personalisation. Along with other upgrades to the passport service's systems, next year citizens applying for a passport for the first time or renewing their passport will be able to opt in to receive electronic communications, including passport expiry reminder notices, from the passport service. This service will be opt-in for several reasons. The Department has a statutory obligation from a data protection perspective to only use personal data, which may include home addresses or email addresses where it is satisfied the data is accurate and up to date. It would, therefore, be precluded from automatically using addresses used for the dispatch of passports ten years ago. Unlike car tax or travel insurance, adult passports expire after ten years and individuals’ circumstances or contact details may have changed in the interim. I hope the point the Senator made was encompassed in that. It is important that people get a reminder and a prompt. As she rightly said, it is about making it easier for people to get access to what is a cherished document. In particular, I would be all for making it easier for first-time applicants, mainly children. I thank the Senator for raising this very important matter. I also thank the Passport Office staff who do extraordinary work in very pressurised circumstances. We are all genuinely beholden to them and we send them our best wishes. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-01/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-01