I propose to take Questions Nos. 742, 746, 747, 751, 768, 769, 771 and 773 together.
In line with Government guidance that, at Level 5 of the National Framework on Living with COVID-19 only essential work should take place, the Passport Service continues to provide a high quality essential service in line with Government measures to reduce social contact and combat the spread of COVID-19.
This essential service is available for those who are required to travel due to the death or serious illness of a family member or meet the criteria for a reasonable excuse for non-essential travel as defined in the recent amendment to the Health Act 1947, which came into effect on 1 February 2021. Supporting documentation will be required in such cases. In order to facilitate the return of travel documents which may have been submitted in support of a passport application, all documents will be registered so that they can be returned for emergency travel or for non-essential travel with a reasonable excuse.
Applicants who require a passport for emergency purposes, or for non-essential travel with a reasonable excuse, should contact the Passport Service via our Customer Service Hub Webchat function on our website.
Irish citizens who are resident overseas should make contact through the local Irish Embassy or Consulate General.
At present, there are approximately 71,300 Passport Online applications in the system. There are currently approximately 4,200 paper based applications in the system.
The Passport Service has a comprehensive plan in place to resume all services, in line with the National Framework for Living with COVID-19. When operations resume at Level 4, all applications received via Passport Online will be processed. The Passport Service is confident, taking into account measures to ensure a safe workplace, that any Passport Online backlog can be cleared in six to eight weeks.
The Passport Service plans to resume processing of routine paper based applications such as Passport Express, Northern Ireland Passport Express and applications for Foreign Birth Registrations at Level 3 of the framework.