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Passport Applications Administration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018

Tuesday, 24 July 2018

Questions (135)

Aindrias Moynihan

Question:

135. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will institute a process in the passport office by which all new documentation received for a new passport application or a passport renewal is catalogued upon receipt and by which an applicant would be informed immediately of other documentation required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34598/18]

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Written answers

Upon receipt of a passport application, the Passport Service undertakes a series of processes to verify its veracity. Once the documentation submitted by the applicant has been logged and copies scanned to the centralised applications processing system, specially trained staff must examine and assess all documentation and application data received in respect of the application.

Rigorous entitlement and security checks must be conducted to maintain the integrity of the Irish passport. As the Deputy will appreciate, it would be inappropriate to confirm the exact nature of these checks or of administrative safeguard arrangements. The nature of this process dictates that it is only possible to inform applicants of any documentation that may be missing or incomplete after their application has been examined and assessed.

In the event that an application is found by staff to be incomplete, the applicant will be contacted promptly.

The online passport application service, which was launched in March 2017, makes it easier for applicants to ensure their application is complete before submission. For instance, the online platform can automatically alert applicants to certain problems that may be present in photographs submitted so as to allow the applicant to resubmit photographs that are in line with photograph guidelines. The online service currently accommodates adult renewals and passport card applications and it is planned to further extend this service to child renewals by the end of 2018.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight that applicants can track the status of existing applications at any time through the Passport Service’s online tracker which can also be found on the Passport Service’s website www.dfa.ie/passport. If an application is found to be incomplete, an alert is created on the online tracker.

Detailed and regularly updated information on passport services, current average turnaround times and comprehensive guides to the various application processes can also be consulted on the Passport Service's website

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