Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 February 2019
28. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is satisfied that sufficient resources are in place to deal with increased volume in passport applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9743/19]
View answerThe Passport Service has seen significant increases in passport applications received in recent years. The increase in demand is driven by a number of factors including a general increase in the number of Irish residents travelling abroad, a growing population, as well as a rise in passport applications from Irish citizens residing in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The Passport Service monitors the volume of applications on an ongoing basis to ensure that resources are available to meet demand. Measures taken to address to address anticipated application increases and seasonal demand include increased staff allocation and a number of technology and customer service initiatives.
Staffing needs in the Passport Service are assessed on the basis of a number of factors including forecasted demand, the balance between more complex first-time applications and renewals as well as the uptake of online services and associated productivity gains. The Passport Service has received approval to recruit over 230 Temporary Clerical Officers (TCOs) in 2019 to assist in processing passport applications and to deal with the queries from the general public.
At the end of 2018, the Passport Service employed 363.2 Full Time Equivalent staff. This is an increase of over 40 staff since the same point in 2017. Already this year, 60 additional Full Time Equivalent staff have taken up roles in the Passport Service. Targeted overtime has been sanctioned for both permanent and temporary staff when required.
A dedicated Customer Service Hub has been established to deal with queries from the public. The number of staff that will be answering Customer Service queries will have trebled since 2016.
The Passport Reform Programme continues to deliver major upgrades to the Passport Service technology platforms and business processes as well as significant customer service improvements. The award winning Online Passport Renewal Service has been the most significant project launched under the Programme to date. Other projects that will advance in 2019 include the development of business process automation, document management systems and the acquisition of mailing machines.
The Online Passport Renewal Service, which was launched in March 2017 has recently been expanded to accommodate additional categories of applications including child renewal applications. This expansion means more than half of all passport applicants are now eligible to renew online. The Online Passport Renewal Service bring benefits for customers with faster turnaround times of 10 working days, excluding postage time. In addition to this, the costs of renewing a passport online is cheaper than alternative methods. Fees for all online applications have been reduced by €5 across all application types.
Over 70% of eligible applicants are now utilising the online renewal service instead of paper applications. A strong take-up for online services will improve the capacity of the Passport Service to manage increasing application volumes. Efficiencies gained mean that staffing resources can be redeployed towards the processing of more complex applications, to protecting the integrity of the passport and to enhancing our customer service.
