Written Answers Nos. 265-279
265. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of his Department's review of the HAP limits; his plans with respect to these limits; and if he plans to publish his Department's review. [10565/22]
View answerThe Programme for Government commits to ensuring that Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) levels are adequate to support vulnerable households, while we increase the supply of social housing. Maximum rent limits for HAP were set for each housing authority area in 2016, in conjunction with the Department of Social Protection. Local authorities also have the flexibility to agree to a HAP payment of up to 20% above the maximum rent limit, because of local rental market conditions and up to 50% in the Dublin region for those households either in, or at immediate risk of, homelessness.
Under Housing for All, my Department was tasked with undertaking an analytical exercise to examine whether an increase in the level of discretion available to Local Authorities under HAP is required, in order to maintain adequate levels of HAP support.
The Housing Agency undertook to carry out this analytical exercise on behalf of my Department. The review was submitted on 20 December 2021. It is undergoing analysis by my Department and I expect to receive recommendations following that analysis.
266. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the review by the Housing Agency of the social housing income eligibility thresholds; his plans with respect to these limits; and if he plans to publish the review. [10566/22]
View answerHousing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland was published in September 2021 and, as part of a broad suite of social housing reforms, committed to reviewing income eligibility for social housing.
The review, which examined inter alia the efficiency of the current banding model and income limits applicable to local authorities, was completed in Q4 2021. I am currently considering its findings and expect to decide on proposed changes and recommendations shortly.
I will publish the review thereafter.
267. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total social housing output for 2021 broken down by new build, acquisition, leasing, Part V and leasing, by local authority and by funding stream including construction, turnkey, Part V and public private partnership. [10567/22]
View answerMy Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on social housing delivery for each local authority on a quarterly basis. The statistics are currently available to the end of Quarter 3 2021. In the first nine months of the year, a total of 5,187 social homes were delivered, including 3,144 social homes delivered through new build, 1,576 social homes delivered through leasing programmes and 467 delivered through acquisitions. Details of individual local authority delivery are available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provision/
The data for Quarter 4 2021 is being collated and will be published shortly, in conjunction with the Quarter 4 2021 Construction Status Report.
268. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of engagements, including online meetings, webinars, briefings and in-person meetings he or officials from his Department have had with the National Women’s Council of Ireland from 1 January 2019 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10580/22]
View answerIn the period under question, my Department had 13 engagements with the National Women’s Council of Ireland; 3 of them included attendance by a Minister of State at my Department.
The engagements included research briefings and meetings on the participation of women in local government.
269. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if clarification will be provided on a matter (details supplied) relating to lettings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10601/22]
View answerLegislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector through the planning code, in areas designated as “rent pressure zones” (RPZs), were introduced under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 which came into effect on 1 July 2019.
Notwithstanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, significant work on the implementation and enforcement of the Regulations has been undertaken by planning authorities since they came into effect.
The Government's housing plan - Housing for All contains a specific action - (Action 20.4) - to “develop new regulatory controls requiring short-term and holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland with a view to ensuring that houses are used to best effect in areas of housing need”. Minister O’Brien has engaged with the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media to progress this action, and a number of meetings have been held between officials of the two Departments and with Fáilte Ireland, and further engagement is expected to take place in the near future.
Funding was allocated in Budget 2022 to Fáilte Ireland which has been tasked with the design and implementation of a new short term lettings registration system. The agency is currently recruiting staff to work on this project. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is also presently scoping out the legislative provisions that will be required to underpin the new registration system with a view to these provisions being enacted in 2022.
270. Deputy Francis Noel Duffy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the shared equity scheme will be introduced; when eligibility requirements will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10607/22]
View answerThe Affordable Housing Act 2021, which I commenced in August 2021, laid the provisions for the introduction of two new affordable purchase schemes: an affordable purchase scheme delivered via Local Authorities and the Land Development Agency delivering primarily on their own lands, and also the national First Home shared equity scheme supporting purchases in the private market.
Part 4 of the Act provides the basis for the establishment of the First Home Scheme. The scheme will support first-time buyers on moderate incomes in purchasing new-build homes by means of an equity stake model, similar to that used in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase scheme. First Home will be subject to regional price ceilings reflective of the median prices paid by first-time buyers for new-build homes, so it is an intervention to assist buyers in the lower portion of the home price distribution. The scheme will be targeted at those who have insufficient funds to purchase one of these homes using the mortgage and deposit available to them, and will use equity support to ‘bridge the gap’.
Budget 2022 allocated €44 million to my Department for First Home. The banking sector has confirmed it is committed to working with the State to develop and deliver this scheme, and has agreed in principle to match this State funding in order to increase the pool of funding available to potential new homeowners. Subject to the necessary approvals by all parties, it is anticipated that the First Home scheme will operate for the period 2022 to 2025, utilising overall funding of c. €400m to provide support to c. 8,000 households to purchase new homes.
The scheme will be operated via the First Home Scheme Ireland Designated Activity Company, which has recently been incorporated. Significant work is continuing on the detailed design and parameters of the scheme, and full details including scheme conditionality will be confirmed upon completion of this work. It is anticipated that initial activity on key areas of work, including public communications, will be conducted early in May of this year, in advance of the first receipt of applications and deployment of equity support, scheduled for end Q2.
271. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will ensure that aquaculture is taken under the remit of the Maritime Area Regulatory Agency given that it will be essential for the fair and correct development and management of the marine space. [10628/22]
View answerThe Maritime Area Planning Act 2021, which was signed into law in December, establishes a new agency, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority or MARA, which will have responsibility for overseeing a new licensing regime in the maritime area.
While aquaculture is not included in this licensing regime, the system designed is sufficiently flexible to accommodate a wide variety of maritime usages and activities which could allow for the inclusion of aquaculture in the future. Any future integration would need to follow careful examination of the existing aquaculture regulatory eco-system and collaboration between myself and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine.
Chapter 9 of the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF) sets out the objectives and marine planning policies in relation to aquaculture. The NMPF will be the key decision-making tool for regulatory authorities such as MARA and policy makers into the future, including in relation to decisions on individual consent applications which will have to have regard to the provisions of the plan in the same way that terrestrial plans form part of the decision making tool-kit in the on-land planning process.
272. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans to clear the backlog of applications for foreshore licences awaiting decision in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10643/22]
View answer273. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the new legislation on foreshore licences will be implemented; the responsibilities transferring to local authorities and the responsibilities transferring to MARA; the resources that will be made available to ensure that speedy decisions will be made on future foreshore applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10644/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 272 and 273 together.
The Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Act 2021, enacted in December 2021, establishes a new marine planning system, which is underpinned by a statutory Marine Planning Policy Statement guided by the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF), consisting of a new licensing and development management regime from the high water mark to the outer limit of the State’s continental shelf. This new regime will be administered in due course by the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA), and by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) and the coastal local authorities.
This new marine planning system will replace existing State and development consent regimes (i.e. the existing foreshore system with the exception of the responsibilities of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine) and will streamline arrangements on the basis of a single consent principle, i.e. one state consent (Maritime Area Consent) to enable occupation of the Maritime Area and one development consent (planning permission), with a single environmental assessment.
Maritime Area Consents (MACs) will be granted by MARA. Development consent responsibility for coastal areas will be generally discharged by the relevant local authority within a newly designated nearshore area i.e. from the high water mark 3nm seaward. ABP will be responsible for certain classes of development within the entire Maritime Area and for the generality of development beyond the nearshore.
The MAP Act also sets out special provisions for offshore renewable energy (ORE) projects satisfying the definition of “relevant maritime usage”. Recognising that it will take time to establish a new agency, it was decided by Government that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications should be granted limited powers to invite MAC applications for ORE projects satisfying the definition of “relevant maritime usage” for a specified period in advance of the establishment of MARA. A public consultation on these processes was held recently by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and applications for MACs from these projects will be accepted later this year. Any project satisfying the definition of “relevant maritime usage” which is granted a MAC by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications must then apply for the necessary development permission from An Bord Pleanála under the new regime.
The aim is to have MARA established by Q1 2023 and, to facilitate this, a dedicated Unit has been set up within my Department to progress the Implementation Plan to establish this new agency. Extensive preparatory work will be required over the coming months to enable MARA to undertake the wide range of its statutory functions post-establishment. This work includes drafting commencement orders, and preparing a series of regulations and statutory guidelines as well as developing the processes dependent on same.
In the interim period, responsibility for development on Ireland’s foreshore will continue to be regulated under the provisions of the Foreshore Act 1933, as amended. As Minister, I am the ‘appropriate Minister’ for the purposes of this Act (with the exception of a number of specific areas of responsibility for which the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine is the appropriate Minister), and I will continue to accept, assess and grant/refuse applications for foreshore leases and licences under the foreshore regime until MARA is established. After the establishment of MARA, new applications will not be accepted under the current Foreshore consenting regime, but applications on hand (e.g. site investigation applications etc.) will be processed to completion.
There has been a significant increase in the number and complexity of foreshore licence and lease applications over the last two to three years. The majority of this increased activity is related to Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) infrastructural development, including potential development site investigation activity, Eirgrid cabling development, and port infrastructure improvement. In addition, power and telecommunication cable application activity has increased from both commercial and state-led projects. In parallel, emerging case law and enhanced requirements arising from various environmental assessment Directives have added to the complexity of the appraisal process.
Over the last eighteen months, my Department has more than doubled the staffing resources available within the Foreshore Unit to address the increasing workload. In addition, a panel of external specialist environmental consultants is in operation to assist in the technical assessment of applications. While I am satisfied that the appropriate resources are in place, I am keen to keep the arrangements under review until such time as the MARA is established.
Under the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021, MARA will also, in due course, undertake all administrative responsibility and estate management functions for the portfolio of existing foreshore leases and licences (numbering in excess of 2,200).
274. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the window in which Ireland’s climate targets are incorporated or will be incorporated into our planning system; the way that upstream and downstream impacts induced demand and embedded carbon, for example, will be assessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10647/22]
View answerThe Climate Action Plan, 2021 sets out an ambitious course for national decarbonisation to deliver a scale-up in emission performance across the sectors over the coming decade to meet 2030 targets and to set a trajectory to meet 2050 objectives. The plan recognises that climate change is a complex issue that requires transformative responses from every sector in society and that all measures, collectively, represent a coherent approach to dealing with the significant challenges ahead.
The National Planning Framework (NPF) confirms that the planning process provides an established means through which to implement and integrate climate change objectives, including adaptation, at local level and the transition to a low carbon and climate resilient society. The NPF further underpins this approach by stating that "in addition to legally binding targets agreed at EU level, it is a national objective for Ireland to transition to be a competitive low carbon, economy by the year 2050".
The three Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSES) also echo the importance of climate action and each contain a number of policy objectives in order to ensure emissions can be reduced and targets met.
Under the relevant provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) (the Act), local authorities prepare development plans and local area plans to set out the planning policies and objectives for their respective functional areas.
A programme of development plan review is currently underway in order to achieve consistency of approach with the NPF and the RSESs adopted by the three Regional Assemblies.
National renewable energy objectives, and those set out in the regional strategies, are required to be reflected in county Development Plans.
In addition, section 10(2) of the Act sets out the development objectives that must be included in the development plan of each local authority and are therefore ‘mandatory’ requirements. Section 10(2)(n) specifically identifies climate action (adaption and mitigation) as a mandatory objective to be included in all Development Plans.
These plans, which are adopted by the elected members of the local authority, are subject to review and evaluation by the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) to ensure consistency with national planning policy and guidance, including section 28 Ministerial Guidelines. Where matters arise in relation to consistency with national policy, further to a recommendation by the OPR, the Minister may decide to issue a planning authority with a Ministerial Direction under Section 31 of the Act, if a plan has failed to set out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of an area.
The SEAI published a Methodology for Local Authority Renewable Energy Strategies (LARES) in 2013 to assist local authorities in this regard. This methodology is currently being reviewed, with input from relevant bodies, to provide a best practice approach to identifying and assessing renewable energy resources in spatial planning at local authority level. Based on the indicative targets for onshore wind energy and grid-scale solar deployment, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) proposes to set out a target for the total onshore capacity that should be planned for on a national and regional level. The Regional Assemblies will be required to develop and implement regional renewable electricity strategies based on the overall national targets, renewable energy objectives contained in each of the RSESs, with the support of relevant guidance, including the SEAI LARES.
With regard to the construction sector, embodied carbon in construction materials makes a significant contribution to the lifetime carbon emissions of new buildings. The operational carbon emissions for heating, lighting and other services have been significantly reduced in Nearly Zero Energy Buildings. These building regulations requirements apply to all new buildings including social and affordable housing developments. Currently these embodied carbon emissions are addressed in the Climate Action Plan and the Construction Products Regulation.
In addition my Department has issued design guidelines for sustainable housing which includes recommendations relating to the need to have due regard to the environmental impact of construction materials. These guidelines “Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities” are available on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/24d9e-quality-housing-for-sustainable-communities-design-guidelines/
Furthermore, under the Climate Action Plan the Office of Public Works (OPW) is putting in place a roadmap to promote greater use of lower-carbon building material alternatives in construction while the SEAI is carrying out a research and development project to examine life cycle analysis and embedded energy in buildings to compare the use of sustainable materials.
It should be further noted in this connection that planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála, under sections 34 and 143 of the Act respectively, are required to have regard to the objectives of Development Plans and any policies of Government or Guidelines issued with respect to climate targets which are relevant at the time of making a decision on a proposed development.
275. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of local authority home loan scheme applications that were received from Mayo County Council for 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022; and the number that were granted in the same period. [10737/22]
View answerThe Local Authority Home Loan has only been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022. Prior to that, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan was the mortgage available from local authorities. As of 4 January 2022, no new Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan applications will be accepted, although applications/approvals already in process will be honoured. Therefore, information on both loan schemes is set out as follows.
The Housing Agency provides a central support service that assesses applications for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, and its successor the Local Authority Home Loan scheme, on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities to approve or refuse applications. Data are collected separately for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan and the Local Authority Home Loan schemes.
Each local authority must have in place a credit committee and it is a matter for the committee to make the decision on applications for loans, in accordance with the regulations, having regard to the recommendations made by the Housing Agency.
The most recent figures provided by the Agency on the number of Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan and Local Authority Home Loan applications that it has underwritten for Mayo County Council, from 2020 up to the end of January 2022 are set out in the following table.
|
Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan |
||
|
Year |
Applications Underwritten |
Applications Recommended for Approval |
|
2020 |
31 |
13 |
|
2021 |
30 |
15 |
|
2022 (to 31/01/2022) |
0 |
0 |
|
Local Authority Home Loan |
||
|
Year |
Applications Underwritten |
Applications Recommended for Approval |
|
2022 (to 31/01/2022) |
1 |
0 |
My Department regularly publishes information on the number and value of (i) local authority loan approvals and (ii) local authority loan drawdowns. Local authority approval means that an official letter of offer has been sent to a borrower (and therefore relates to a specific property and loan amount).
Local Authority drawdowns, approvals, average drawdowns, and average approvals to Q2 2021 is available at the following link, which will be updated, as updated figures are available:
www.gov.ie/en/collection/42d2f-local-authority-loan-activity/#local-authority-loans-approvedpaid
276. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of compulsory purchase orders sought for derelict properties by each local authority in 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10738/22]
View answerSince 2018 local authorities are required to submit an annual return to my Department providing information on the operation of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 in their functional areas. The derelict sites returns are collected in Q2 of the following year. The information requested in respect of 2020 is provided in the following Table. Figures for 2021 and 2022 are not yet available.
My Department continues to liaise with local authorities on the implementation of the Derelict Sites Act with a view to improving its effectiveness.
|
- |
2020 |
|
|
Local Authority |
No. of Derelict Sites acquired by agreement |
No. of Derelict Sites acquired compulsorily |
|
Carlow |
0 |
0 |
|
Cavan |
0 |
0 |
|
Clare |
0 |
0 |
|
Cork County |
0 |
0 |
|
Cork City |
1 |
0 |
|
Donegal |
0 |
0 |
|
Dublin City |
0 |
0 |
|
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown |
0 |
0 |
|
Fingal |
0 |
0 |
|
Galway City |
0 |
0 |
|
Galway County |
0 |
0 |
|
Kerry |
0 |
0 |
|
Kildare |
0 |
0 |
|
Kilkenny |
0 |
1 |
|
Laois |
0 |
3 |
|
Leitrim |
0 |
0 |
|
Limerick City & County |
0 |
26 |
|
Longford |
0 |
0 |
|
Louth |
0 |
0 |
|
Mayo |
0 |
0 |
|
Meath |
0 |
8 |
|
Monaghan |
0 |
0 |
|
Offaly |
0 |
0 |
|
Roscommon |
0 |
0 |
|
Sligo |
0 |
0 |
|
South Dublin |
0 |
1 |
|
Tipperary |
0 |
1 |
|
Waterford City & County |
0 |
0 |
|
Westmeath |
0 |
0 |
|
Wexford |
1 |
2 |
|
Wicklow |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
2 |
42 |
277. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he plans to bring forward new wind energy guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10349/22]
View answerMy Department is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. The review is addressing a number of key aspects including noise, setback, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividend and grid connections.
Guidance on the noise aspect is currently being finalised by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, which has primary responsibility for environmental noise matters. Significant work has been undertaken on the noise elements and the two Departments recently met to discuss new developments in this regard including consideration of the impact of the revised 2030 target to generate up to 80% of our electricity from renewable sources and the need to ensure that proposals regarding the measurement and assessment of noise from wind turbines are fit for purpose. These aspects are currently being considered and further engagement between the Departments is expected imminently. Following this inter-departmental engagement, I will be in a better position to provide an update on the expected publication date of the revised Guidelines, the finalisation of which remains a priority.
It should also be noted that the review and finalisation of the Guidelines has been included as a specific action in the recently published Climate Action Plan.
When finalised, the revised Guidelines will be issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála, must have regard to guidelines issued under section 28 in the performance of their functions generally under the Planning Acts. In the meantime, the current 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines remain in force.
278. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a passport application by a person (details supplied) will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10524/22]
View answer282. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will review an application by a person (details supplied) and ensure that the supporting documentation has been received as confirmed by An Post to the applicant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10617/22]
View answer283. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will review applications by persons (details supplied) and ensure that supporting documentation has been received as confirmed by An Post to the applicant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10618/22]
View answer285. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will examine and expedite a passport application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10664/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 278, 282, 283 and 285 together.
With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputies have enquired, the Passport Service has provided an update on the status of the passport applications to the applicants.
279. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are issues and delays updating the passport tracking system; if so, when the system is likely to be made fully functional again in order that applicants can monitor the progress of their applications as they are finding it difficult to get in contact with the Passport Office by telephone; the reason, despite the additional staff that he said would be recruited to the Passport Office in January 2022, that there are still significant delays in processing passport applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10568/22]
View answerThe online Passport Tracker tool provides applicants with an indication of how their application is progressing through the system and gives an estimated issue date based on the current average application processing time.
The Passport Service regrets that the Passport Tracker recently experienced technical issues which resulted in the tracker not correctly updating a small number of applications. This issue has been identified and is now fixed. While it has not been possible to immediately update all affected applications on the tracker, this will happen automatically when these applications reach the next stage of the process. The passport service apologies for any inconvenience caused to applicants who have been affected.
Applicants who wish to receive an update on the status of their passport application can contact the Customer Service Hub at (01) 6711633 or via Webchat on my Department's website (www.dfa.ie/passports). The Passport Service Customer Service Hub officers respond to customer queries by phone and webchat as well as enquiries related to Emergency Passport cases. The Customer Service Hub are currently handling over 5,000 customer contacts each week. During times of high demand, there can be delays in getting through to a service agent due to the volumes of enquiries. The Passport Service webchat is also operational and customers should refresh the page if the icon is grey. A webchat operator is available when the icon is green.
My Department has been pro-actively planning to ensure the necessary resources are in place to meet the current and expected level of demand in 2022 and is making an unprecedented investment in the Passport Service in terms of additional staff and improvements to the passport processing and customer service systems.
My Department is working with the Public Appointments Service on a major recruitment drive that has been underway for several months. Since June of 2021, over 300 members of staff at all grades have been assigned to the Passport Service. Additional staff are being assigned on a weekly basis with a goal of reaching staff numbers of 900 by the end of March. This represents a doubling of staff numbers over the course of 9 months. 109 new staff joined the Passport Service in the month of January. This is slightly lower than the estimate that was originally provided, as not all assignments that had been offered were accepted by candidates.
The Passport Service is implementing a number of further measures that will positively impact the current turnaround times and improve customer service:
- Intensive training of new staff and upskilling of existing staff is underway to increase the resources that can process complex applications.
- The Passport Service is actively prioritising first time applications and directing increased resources to processing these complex applications with a view to reducing the current turnaround time.
- A new document management process is being put in place that allows for a much quicker turnaround time when an applicant is asked to submit additional documents. Once these documents are received, they will be prioritised and complete applications will be processed in 3 weeks. This will greatly reduce the waiting time for applicants who are missing documents in their initial application.
In January 2022, the Passport Service received over 137,000 new passport applications. This is the highest volume of monthly applications ever received and indicates that there is pent-up demand for passports following the relaxation of necessary travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Passport Service estimates that up to 1.4 million passport applications will be received this year. Previous predictions for 2022 estimated a volume of 1.7m. However, for now this number has decreased due to the volume of passport renewal applications received in late 2021. The prediction for the number of passport applications in 2022 remains subject to review and the first six months of the year are still forecasted to remain very busy with most of the reduction in forecasted volume seen in the second half of the year.
While there is a very high volume of applications in the system, this does not represent a backlog. There is a continuous stream of new applications and a continuous dispatch of completed passports happening every day. Figures show that there are currently 90,000 applications that are fully complete and are being processed by the Passport Service. There are also 70,000 applications in the system where the Passport Service is waiting for the customer to complete the application. In these cases, the onus is on the customer to submit the required documents to the Service. While the Passport Service makes every effort to contact applicants in such circumstances, their experience is that many applicants take weeks and sometimes months to send in the necessary documents.
The current passport processing times are:
- 10 working days for Simple Adult online renewals
- 15 working days for Complex or child online renewals
- 40 working days for First Time Applications on Passport Online
- 8 weeks for An Post’s mail-in “Passport Express” service
The Passport Service is currently experiencing high demand for first time passports, particularly for children. First time passport applications do take longer to process and there are a number of reasons for this:
- It is important to check the applicant’s identity and their entitlement to Irish citizenship. The Irish passport was recently ranked 5th in the Henley Global Passport Index as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 187 countries. This is something we can all be proud of. However, in order to maintain this ranking and to protect the integrity of the Irish passport, the Passport Service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship status of first time applicants.
- In the case of children, it is essential that the Passport Service verifies the consent of the child’s guardians before a passport can issue. This ensures that the Passport Service protects the rights of the child and their guardians.
- Due to the intensive analysis and extra measures undertaken by highly trained and experienced staff, first time applications take 40 working days to process.
The Passport Service is currently processing 45% of adult online renewal application in one working day, while 99% of online child renewal passports are issued within the advertised processing time of 15 working days.
The processing times for a standard online renewal passport applications compare very favourably to processing times internationally in countries such as the UK, United States, Canada and Australia.
