Boom in Irish passport applications

More than 250,000 people applied for Irish passports in the first three months of this year, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Charlie Flanagan told the Dáil this week that the number of people requesting a passport between January 1 and March 31 is up 26% on the same period in 2016.

Almost 750,000 passport applications were received in 2016 – up 9% on 2015.

explaining the surging stats, Mr Flanagan told TD Tommy Broughan: ‘The decision by the UK to leave the european Union has undoubtedly had an impact, but so too has an expanding population and an increase in outbound travel.’

The Passport office is recruiting an extra 230 temporary staff to deal with the stampede for Irish passports. It aims to process applications in 15 working days.

Mr Flanagan urged people to apply for a new passport at least six weeks in advance of travel and to use the new online system launched at the end of March. The online system can be used by people who already have a passport.