Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 January 2017
161. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the supports that were put in place to deal with increased demand for Irish passports in view of the fact that 733,060 Irish passports were issued in 2016, an increase of 9% on 2015; and if he expects a similar demand in 2017. [3366/17]
View answerTo respond to the seasonal spike in demand as well as a more general increase in passport application numbers, a total of 233 Temporary Clerical Officers were employed by my Department last year. This was an increase of 62 officers compared to 2015.
It is expected that passport application volumes will continue to increase in 2017. To effectively manage rising volumes, including via timely processing of applications and related customer service functions, the Passport Service aims to recruit a similar number of Temporary Clerical Officers this year.
The Passport Service continues to advance the upgrade of technology systems and business processes under the Passport Reform Programme. The introduction of an on-line passport application channel for adult renewals planned for the coming months will result in significant savings in passport processing time and increased productivity.
As part of the Reform Programme, an improved on-line tracking service was launched at the end of 2016. This allows the customer to accurately track the progress of their application in a visually dynamic way, and provides an estimated date of issue based on current turnaround timeframes. This should reduce the volume of customer queries to the Passport Service and allow more staff to be allocated to application processing.
Public messaging on the Passport Service website and in media contacts has been revised to underline the importance of applying at least six weeks in advance of travel and reminding that the Passport Express service is still the cheapest and most efficient means of applying for a passport.
My Department will continue to closely monitor the volume of applications. Resources will be re-deployed as needed to deal with any significant increases and the need for additional resources will be kept under active review.
