Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
411. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the duration for which that he will run the pilot project in respect of the proposal for Passport Office officials to verify Garda log entries by a designated email process (details supplied) before rolling out the procedure. [39092/22]
View answerThere are certain passport applications for applicants resident in Ireland that require forms to be witnessed by a member of An Garda Síochána. The witnessing of these forms is a vital element of the identity verification process for the Passport Service, as it provides initial assurance that the person in the photograph is the same person presenting to submit the passport application form. In the case of children's applications, it ensures that the consent of guardians is verified.
Garda stations maintain logs of these witnessed forms for verification purposes. For each application involving a Garda witness, the Passport Service calls the relevant Garda station to confirm that the Garda witness recorded the witnessed form in the station logbook. Passport Service staff will call the relevant Garda station up to three times to verify the Garda's signature.
In cases where the Garda signature cannot be verified by calling the Garda station, a new system has been established between the Passport Service and An Garda Síochána to verify these applications. This new system assists in reducing the number of applications that are delayed due to a failure to verify witness details. An average of 15 applications per day are verified in this manner. Over the past four weeks, the Passport Service has issued over 6,000 passports per day.
This system was fully rolled out across the Passport Service in June 2022. The Passport Service and An Garda Síochána will keep the system under review to ensure that it continues to operate effectively.
