Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 May 2023
132. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Passport Office is aware that in some instances, the date of issue on the Irish Passport website differs from the dates on the internal Passport Office system; if so, the measures being taken to sync these dates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21378/23]
View answer133. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the action he has taken specifically in relation to the three-week time period it takes the Passport Office to check the validity of documentation once received by it, in view of the exceptionally long delays and impact on families that existed in the weeks of summer 2022. [21479/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 132 and 133 together.
My Department is currently in the busiest season of the year for processing passport applications, as citizens prepare for their upcoming summer travel plans. Thanks to operational and staffing plans implemented by my Department, the Passport Service is successfully responding to the current high demand, and has issued over 403,000 passports to date this year. All turnaround times are at their target level and there are no backlogs. The Customer Service Hub is responding to over 3,000 queries per day.
The turnaround times outlined on my Department's website apply to fully complete and correct applications. Applications that are incomplete or incorrect can take longer.
In cases where insufficient or incorrect supporting documents are received by the Passport Service, every effort is made to let the applicant know as soon as possible. Applications enter a queue and are checked in order of date received.
The Passport Service has a system in place to ensure that where an application is incomplete and further supporting documents are required and requested, these applications do not go to the back of the queue, rather they are processed within 15 working days of receipt of the additional documents.
The Passport Service continually works to enhance the service and provide further efficiencies for customers. A number of improvements were recently made to the Passport Online platform. These include a customised list of the supporting documents for first time applicants, an Eircode look-up tool to facilitate the input of postal addresses, and a new integration feature with the General Register Office. This integration will benefit a significant cohort of first-time child applicants who will no longer be required to submit a physical birth certificate. So far almost 8,000 digital birth certificates have been received by the Passport Service from the General Register Office. These upgrades help to reduce the administrative burden for these applicants. In addition, the customised list of documents aims to reduce the number of applications for which insufficient or incorrect supporting documents are submitted.
I strongly encourage the Deputies to advise their constituents of the benefits of applying online. It is by far the quickest and cheapest way to apply for a passport, and is now used by over 90% of citizens worldwide.
Passport applicants can track the status of their passport application online via the Passport Tracker which is available on my Department's website: www.dfa.ie/passporttracking/. The information available on the tracker is an excellent guide as to where an application is in the system.
The tracker 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. This issue date is an estimate, and is not a service guarantee. For a very small number of paper-based applications, the issue date on the online tracker is up to three days earlier than the advertised turnaround time for paper-based applications. The Passport Service is aware of this issue and is working to amend the affected applications. In addition, where the Passport Service is made aware of affected applications, these applications are processed in line with the issue by date seen on the tracker.
