Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 November 2020
134. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department will continue to process passport applications during the current lockdown given that the right to enter and leave the State of which one is a citizen is a basic human right and Ireland has not declared, formally at least, declared a state of emergency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34222/20]
View answerIn response to the move to Level 5 on the National Framework for living with COVID-19, the Passport Service is operating an essential, emergency service at this time. This has allowed us to make our staff available for temporary reassignment to critical areas including contact tracing for the HSE and to the Department Social Protection.
The Passport Service continues to process passports for our citizens at home and abroad who require it. A same day emergency service is available for those who are required to travel due to the death or serious illness of a family member or because the applicant requires emergency medical treatment. In addition, an urgent service is in place for citizens who require a passport for urgent but not emergency reasons.
The Passport Service has a comprehensive plan in place to resume the normal processing of passport applications. At Level 4, processing of Passport Online applications will resume. At Level 3, processing of paper based Passport Express and Foreign Birth Registration applications will resume. The Passport Service is confident that any backlog will be cleared quickly.
