Passport numbers take off in 2016 — and application surge set to continue

There were 733,060 passports issued in 2016, a 9% increase on the previous year — and Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has forecast the high demand is set to continue.

He attributed the increase to factors including:

• More Irish people travelling in the first half of the year;
• Euro 2016;
• A historical spike in applications from 2006 feeding through in the 10-year renewal cycle;
• Brexit.