Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
357. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Oireachtas urgent query line (details supplied) has been discontinued; if so, when it was discontinued; if he will consider reinstating the line due to the ongoing high demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15826/22]
View answer374. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide an update on a matter in relation to the phone lines relating to the Oireachtas urgent query service (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16168/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 357 and 374 together.
In response to the high volume of applications being submitted to the Passport Service, a temporary phone line was established in October 2021 to respond to Oireachtas Members' queries on urgent passport cases. This phoneline responded to over 2,700 queries in 2021 and has handled over 3,600 queries to date in 2022.
The Oireachtas line is fully operational and has seen a significant increase in the volume of calls received, as well as the number of queries associated with each call since January.
A representative of the Passport Service has contacted Deputy Conway-Walsh and Deputy Ó Murchú to ensure that they are able to access the Oireachtas line and confirmed that their queries have been handled.
