asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he is satisfied with the arrangements for the issue of passports in the Passport Office in view of the difficulties resulting from the postal dispute.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Issue of Passports.
20.
I am satisfied that the present arrangements for the issue of passports are satisfactory, having regard to the difficulties mentioned in the question.
Are there queues there still?
The Passport Office and the staff there have come in for a lot of criticism over the years. I would like, in defence of the Passport Office and the staff there, to pay a special tribute to them. They work extremely hard. It is only fair to place on the record that the Passport Office issue a passport on the same day to people who have to make long trips and who are otherwise unable to have their passports collected in time for their journeys. In other words, people can have their passports issued on the same day. A system of on-the-spot renewal of five year passports introduced late in 1978 also means that people who call to the Passport Office can have their passports renewed while they wait. People receiving passports on the day they apply for them together with people seeking renewal usually number about 350 people per day. In addition, each day between 600 and 650 new passports are collected by callers at the public office. It can be seen that this staff, who have been subject to criticism in recent years, are an extremely hard-working and efficient staff. I have taken the opportunity, having special responsibility for this area, of making arrangements for the Office of Public Works to have a post box installed to make it easier for people to deposit their passports in the Passport Office when they arrive in town after hours. The public office is open from 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. and it does not close for lunch time. They are very hard-working and dedicated civil servants.
I entirely endorse the remarks of the Minister in regard to the co-operation and the help one gets in the Passport Office. I am concerned about whether they have sufficient help there. The Minister referred in his reply to over 600 callers a day. How many staff are there to cope with that number? I presume that the postal applications will be dealt with when the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs finally gets the post going.
The people are flying away from the country.
Mr. Andrews
I do not have the figure for the number of staff. As many as ten members of the staff work full time handing out passports to callers. As I pointed out, delay occurs. I can give the Deputy the exact figure if I can correspond with him. I have not got the figure in my brief.
Would the Minister take steps to give extra help to the hard-working staff in that office if there is need for extra help? I have some evidence that they need extra staff.
Mr. Andrews
I will certainly do everything I can to help the staff. They are a very hard-working staff and anything we can do to improve their conditions will be done. More help will be given to them if it is required, but I do not think it is.
We all endorse what the Minister said about the hard-working staff in that office. Is the number of passports issued this year up or down on the number of passports issued last year?
The number of passports issued this year is up.
There are more people emigrating.
The Deputy must be joking. There are more people going on holidays this year than last year.
They cannot get petrol here.