Passports are conceivably about to get a lot easier to get.
The government are said to be about to announce a new streamlined route to obtaining a passport.
Applicants will potentially no longer have to go to a garda station for a signature.
Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said that the changes were being considered due to the “significant increase in passport applications”.
Flanagan said: “Recognising the additional workload which the significant increase in passport applications (from 250,000 in 1995 to over 630,000 in 2014) has put on An Garda Síochána, the Passport Service is reviewing the witnessing process. The process used to apply for a passport card is serving as a pilot for an online application form.”
“It is anticipated that the Garda witnessing requirement for adults renewing their passports will be reviewed in tandem with a number of new identity verification and anti-fraud measures including increased reliance on the public services card as the core identity verification mechanism for all passport applicants in the state.”, he concluded.