Gary Gannon
Question:98. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the current timeline for first-time passport applicants. [22976/22]
View answerTuesday, 10 May 2022
Questions (98, 118, 148)
Gary Gannon
Question:118. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will consider removing the fees for passport applications that are not completed until after the estimated delivery date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22978/22]
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Alan Dillon
Question:148. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his ongoing work at reducing wait times for passport applications; the reason for the delays in updating the online passport tracking system; the reason that members of the public cannot contact the Passport Office given that phone lines are frequently down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22972/22]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 98, 118 and 148 together.
Since March of this year, the Passport Service has reduced the processing time for first time applications from 40 working days to 30 working days. This 25% reduction in processing times is as a direct result of the unprecedented level of investment that my Department has made in the Passport Service in terms of additional staff and improvements to the passport processing and customer service systems.
Over 400,000 passports have been issued to date in 2022, compared to a total of 634,000 passports issued in 2021. 117,000 passports were issued in April alone with 45% of adult renewal passports being issued within one to two working days.
First time passport applications do take longer to process than renewal applications and there are a number of reasons for this. First time applications are necessarily complex to process, since, in many cases, they are applications for Irish citizenship. 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. Due to the intensive analysis and extra measures undertaken by highly trained and experienced staff, first time applications are currently taking 30 working days to process.
In terms of staffing, the 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 throughout the year to meet the demand expected in the coming months. This competition is currently underway and once completed, will see staffing numbers of over 900 at the Passport Service, which represents a doubling of staff numbers since last summer.
It is a priority for the Passport Service to improve processing times in 2022, particularly for first time applicants. The Passport Service is implementing a number of further measures that will positively impact the current turnaround times and improve customer service including working targeted overtime to focus on key areas such as first time applications, intensive training of staff and enhanced public information resources.
I am confident that the measures that have been implemented will help to further 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.
With regard to the online Passport Tracker, this 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 date displayed on the tracker is an estimate, and is based on the current average processing time for that type of application. For a small number of applications currently in the Passport Service system, the issue by date displayed on the tracker differs from the issue by date on the Passport Service internal processing system by one to three days. The Passport Service regrets any inconvenience caused to applicants who have been affected. The cause of this issue has been identified by the Passport Service and they are working to rectify it.
The Passport Service Customer Service Hub officers respond to customer queries by phone and webchat as well as with enquiries related to Emergency Passport cases. The Customer Service Hub handled over 175,000 enquiries in 2021 and is 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. I am confident that the recruitment of additional staff, along with significant training initiatives, will have a positive impact on our response to customer service demand.
With regard to Deputy Gannon's question in relation to refund of fees for passports that are not issued within the usual turnaround times, the vast majority of fully complete and correct applications are issued within turnaround times. A delay may, for example, be incurred for reasons such as the Passport Service attempting to contact a witness on multiple occasions rather than requesting the applicant to complete a new identity and consent form. Therefore such a measure would be very challenging to implement when the complexities with some applications is taken into consideration.
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.