Joe Humphreys
People may be able to apply for their passports over the Internet before the end of this year thanks to a new automated passport system which, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs, is at an advanced stage of development.
The system, which will also allow for physical or biometric details to be stored in one's passport booklet via microchip, is due to come into operation in the autumn, the Department said.
In an end-of-year statement, it revealed its passport offices in Dublin and Cork issued a record 465,000 passports in 2003, up by more than 15,000 on 2002.
More than 550,000 were issued at home and abroad last year, more than double the number of passports issued as recently as 1996. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said a new purpose-built passport production facility was "close to completion" at Balbriggan, Co Dublin. New technology is being incorporated in the production process to improve security, and comply with the requirements of the 2001 US Patriot Act. Regulations under the Act demand that countries operating a visa-waiver system for travellers to America have a programme for introducing biometrics on passports by October 26th next.
Application fees are increasing from March 1st next by more than 50 per cent in some instances to fund the new facility. The cost of a standard 10-year passport will go up from €57 to €75, while the emergency, out-of-hours processing fee will rise from €37 to €100.
Almost 40 per cent of passports issued last year, or 182,000, were in the peak months of May-July. Some 70 per cent of all passports applicants availed of the An Post-managed "Passport Express" service, which pledges to deliver new passports within 10 working days.