Violet-Anne Wynne
Question:758. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are plans to increase the hours that the webchat service is available on the Passport Office website. [43393/22]
View answerThursday, 8 September 2022
Questions (758)
Written answers
The Passport Service Customer Service Hub is available to respond to customer queries by phone and webchat. Both the phone and the webchat service are available between the hours of 9am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
The Customer Service Hub has handled over 280,000 queries to date this year and is currently handling over 12,000 customer contacts each week. Throughout the month of July, when demand was particularly high, the Hub handled over 15,000 contacts per week.
The webchat service is currently operating with no wait time for customers and over 99% of customers are reaching a webchat operator each day via webchat. The phone service is currently answering 100% of unique calls each day. This means that virtually all customers who need to speak directly to the Passport Service either on webchat or by phone are having their queries answered within our current operating hours.
While there are no current plans to increase the operating hours of the webchat service, the Passport Service will continue to consider ways to enhance customer experience in the provision of this essential citizen service.
Question No. 759 answered with Question No. 699.
Question No. 760 answered with Question No. 699.
Question No. 761 answered with Question No. 706.