Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
432. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will urgently review reopening the passport office to walk-ins and appointments; if his attention has been drawn to the numerous issues that are evolving online with applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11669/22]
View answerSince late January, all Passport Service sites in Dublin and Cork have been operating at full capacity following the ending of many Covid-19 public health restrictions, and all services have fully resumed.
The Passport Offices in Mount St, Dublin 2 and in Cork offer an Urgent Appointment Service for the renewal of passports. This service was launched in Dublin on 27 September 2021 and in Cork on 26 October 2021. The Urgent Appointment Service ensures that, for those who unexpectedly require a very urgent turnaround of a passport renewal, there is an option available that is transparent, predictable and clear. It means that an applicant can book and pay for their appointment, safe in the knowledge that they will have their passport within a day, or a few days. Customers availing of this service can renew their passport within 1 or 4 days in Dublin and within 4 days in Cork.
Earlier this month, the Passport Service increased the number of appointments at its public offices by 100%, providing an extra 170 appointments per week. To avail of the Urgent Appointment Service for Passport Renewal, applicants must first book an appointment to attend the public office in Dublin or Cork. Applicants can book an appointment through the Department of Foreign Affairs website (www.dfa.ie/passports)
The Passport Online service offers Irish citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is a user-friendly, efficient service that consistently offers processing times up to 4 times faster than paper-based passport renewal applications. Over 90% of all passport applications are received through Passport Online.
All Irish citizens, including children, can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world. Passport Online can also be accessed by first time applicants, irrespective of age in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.
The Passport Service regrets that Passport Online experienced technical issues during the week of 24 January 2022. Despite these issues, over 32,000 applications were submitted via Passport Online that week.
A scheduled system upgrade that has improved the responsiveness and efficiency of the system was completed on Friday, 28 January 2022. This upgrade has addressed the issues experienced by some customers. Since the upgrade was completed, Passport Online has been fully functional and operating smoothly.
In cases where passport applicants submitted an application twice and incurred a second fee during the week of 24 January 2002, these applicants can receive a full refund for the first application by contacting the Customer Service Hub at (01) 6711633 or via Webchat on my Department's website (www.dfa.ie/passports).
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.
I strongly urge anyone who is considering travelling overseas this year, particularly families with young children, to check the validity of their passports before booking travel and to apply for their passports online in plenty of time.
