Review for passport system

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern has ordered a review of an element of the passport system following a controversy involving Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Last month, it emerged that the Taoiseach had helped to obtain a passport for American businessman Norman Turner in 1994, one of the key figures behind a controversial casino proposal in the 1990s, just months after Mr Turner had made a $10,000 donation to Fianna Fáil.

When the story emerged, the Government insisted the Taoiseach had done nothing wrong, saying the passport had been obtained under an express system available to all TDs which allows for the passport to be issued within five working days.