Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
515. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason the Passport Office has ceased processing passport applications under level 5 restrictions; the reason this service is not available online given other services, for example, the motor tax office and the driver licence office, are processing applications in person; and if staff at the Passport Office have been deployed to other duties. [16553/21]
View answer520. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that passports are often required as proof of identity and are often the primary source of identification for non-drivers; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that the use of passports is important for reasons other than travel and the pausing of the issuing of passports is causing significant difficulties for many persons whose passport has expired; the date for the earliest resumption of the issuing of passports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16714/21]
View answer523. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the measures being taken to address the issue of backlog of passports due to the current Covid-19 restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17235/21]
View answer535. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when the Passport Office will return to full capacity following the exit of level 5 restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17560/21]
View answer541. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the expected date for the Passport Office to start processing online and paper-based applications. [17600/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 515, 520, 523, 535 and 541 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 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, against the advice of the Passport Service, all documents will be registered so that they can be returned for emergency travel or for travel with a reasonable excuse.
Applicants who require a passport for emergency purposes, or for 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.
While normal processing of passports has been paused, the staff of the Passport Service continue to produce emergency and urgent applications, to offer customer service through WebChat and to assist with consular assistance for Irish citizens overseas. The Passport Service has issued approximately 2,000 urgent applications, approximately 170 emergency applications and approximately 20,000 simple adult renewals since the beginning of the year. Our Webchat team have answered more than 30,000 queries. The Passport Service has continued to make excellent progress with the Passport Reform Programme. This will deliver a modern passport processing system to replace the current software designed nearly 20 years ago. In addition, the Passport Online system will be expanded to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States next month. This will provide an improved service to our citizens overseas.
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.
