Irish passports among most expensive in Europe – De Burca calls for fairer charges

May 8, 2009

Green Party MEP candidate for Dublin Senator Deirdre de Burca today called on the EU Commission to look at passport charges across Europe. Senator de Burca said Irish passport charges are among the highest in Europe with large costs differences between member states.

Senator de Burca said: “How is it that an Irish adult ten year passport costs €75, but a Spanish citizen can buy an equivalent Spanish passport for €17? In Greece a passport costs €26, while in the Czech Republic, a new passport costs only €22.

“Taking wage costs and administrative charges into account, there is still quite a discrepancy between passport charges in countries across Europe. Perhaps the EU should look at standardizing or lowering charges in member states, which would be fairer for all EU citizens wishing to travel.”

Italy, Britain and Denmark are ahead of Ireland for their passport charges, however other countries such as Luxembourg at €30 and Sweden at €40 charge almost 50 per cent less than Ireland.

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