The Passport Office has taken in over €65m in revenue this year from issuing over a million passports, figures obtained by BusinessPlus.ie show.
During the summer, the Passport Office was plagued with backlogs which saw 195,000 applicants in the queue waiting for their passports at one point in May, a record-setting high.
But late last month, the Passport Office surpassed a million passports issued - the first time this has ever happened and with two months still to go until the end of the year.
All these applications have been a boon for Passport Office coffers, with revenue generated from issuing passports reaching €65,051,988 as of October 20.
It is the first time in the history of the State that over a million passports have been issued in a calendar year.
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Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said yesterday that the Department of Foreign Affairs should continue to invest in the Passport Office so that there will be no repeat of this summer's delays.
"Many people rely on their passport not only as a travel document but as a method of verifying their identity here for everyday services, particularly when accessing credit or opening accounts," she said.
"Without seeing the full detail of where the increase in revenue has come from, it is easy to presume that the pent-up demand for travel following Covid, foreign birth registrations and Brexit have all contributed.
"In 2022, many TDs received literally hundreds of appeals from people to get their passport. The Department of Foreign Affairs should continue to invest in the Passport Service in order to ensure the debacle that prevailed this year does not occur again."
Ms Murphy added that, given the cost-of-living increases, reducing the cost of the passport is something that should also be considered.
"I still feel the call to reduce the price of a passport in the context of rising inflation combined with the cost of living has merit," she said.
In February alone, €9,227,808 was raised from the issuing of passports - the highest figure in any month this year. Revenue slowly went down following this and in September just over €4.2m was generated.
A standard ten-year passport bought using the Passport Office's online service costs €75, while the large 66-page ten-year passport costs €105. A passport card costs €35, but if a person is applying through An Post's service, it will cost an additional €5. For a child's standard five-year passport, the cost is €20, with a large 66-page five-year passport costing €50.
While the cost of an Irish passport may seem high, per year it compares rather favourably with other Western nations. An Irish passport costs €7.50 a year while a UK one costs €8.64 a year. A German passport costs €8.10 a year, a French passport costs €8.60 a year, a US passport costs €13 a year, and an Australian passport costs €19.81 a year.
