Paul Donnelly
Question:285. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of first-time passport applications still outstanding; and his plans to employ more staff to alleviate the backlog. [12514/22]
View answerTuesday, 8 March 2022
Questions (285)
Written answers
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. First time applications are necessarily complex to process. The Passport Service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship. It is the statutory responsibility of the Passport Service to protect the integrity of the Irish passport. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship status of first time applicants. In the case of first time passport applications for children, the consent of guardians must also be thoroughly validated.
Demand for passports continues to be very high with over 156,000 applications received in February. This is the highest number of applications received in any previous month. There are currently 160,000 passport applications in the Passport Service system. Of these, 84,000 are first time applications. 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, of the first time applications, 46,000 (55%) are fully complete and are being processed by the Passport Service. The other 38,000 (45%) applications are incomplete, which means the Passport Service is waiting for the applicant to submit the necessary documentation required. 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.
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 has been working with the Public Appointments Service on a major recruitment drive over the past several months. Since June 2021, over 300 members of staff at all grades have been assigned to the Passport Service. In addition to this, and to complement staffing recruitment through the Public Appointments Service, the Passport Service is running its own recruitment competition for Temporary Clerical Officers with a view to assigning additional staff and to maintain staffing levels to meet the expected demand in the coming months.
It is a priority for the Passport Service to improve processing times for first time applications in 2022. Along with increased staffing, 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.
- Passport Service staff are working overtime with a focus on prioritising first time applications with a view to reducing the current turnaround time.
- A new document management process has been 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.
My Department is confident that the measures that have been implemented will help to reduce passport turnaround times in the course of 2022, particularly for first time applications, and will assist the Passport Service in meeting the high demand forecast for this year.
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.
Question No. 286 answered with Question No. 273.