The Department of Foreign Affairs has said reports that over 15,000 Irish passport applications from British residents were refused last year are wrong.

However the Department cannot say the actual number of refusals as that information is not kept on record.

It is believed, though, that the number of applications that does not result in the issuance of a passport is small.

In a statement the Department said the number of applications received from Britain in 2017 was 80,752.

Information released through a parliamentary question states that 65,678 passports were issued via the embassy in London.

The difference in these figures is 15,074.

But the Department says this figure does not represent passport applications refused but reflects, rather, the fact that not all applications from residents in Britain are submitted via the London embassy and that some were submitted online.