Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021
766. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the way in which he plans to address the backlog of processing applications for passports in circumstances in which they are required for essential travel and official purposes as in the case of a person (details supplied). [15001/21]
View answerIn 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.
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.
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.
With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, an official from the Passport Service contacted the Deputy's office to provide an update.
