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The Passport Service has said it has processed more than 350,000 passport applications so far this year, with 20,000 passports being issued each week.
The application numbers this year are exceptionally high, up over 15 per cent on last year to date.
The service said it aims to meet a turnaround of 15 working days for renewals made by Passport Express and 10 working days for the online passport service.
It has warned that first-time applications take longer because of the extra checks involved.
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Announcing the figures, Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan reminded those intending to travel abroad this summer to check the expiry date of their travel documents, particularly passports.
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