AN IRISH passport costs an average of €9 more to produce than the cost to applicants, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.
Briefing material provided by the department to Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore says the amount many passport applicants pay is scheduled to increase next month. The standard cost of a 10-year Irish passport is €80.
It says the Passport Service earlier this year sought a €15 increase, at the request of the Department of Finance, to the cost of applying for a passport by visiting the Passport Office or via the standard postal system.
The fee for applicants using An Post’s Postal Express, which costs an extra €8.50, will not be increased. This is how 60 per cent of Irish passports are received.
The statutory instrument giving rise to the price increase was signed in February. The effective date for the rises is April 11th.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said Mr Gilmore would be entitled to decide whether the price increase should go ahead before that date.
The exemption whereby people aged over 65 did not pay for passports has also been lifted.
The material also says legislation on surrogacy is “urgently needed” as it is an issue that regularly features at passport offices and Irish embassies abroad.
