22 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the extraordinary queues on a daily basis at the Passport Office; and if he intends to take steps to provide a more satisfactory service and hence prevent such inconveniences to applicants.
I would like to assure the Deputy that both the Minister and myself are personally concerned that the best possible service should be given to members of the public when applying for passports.
The Passport Office process approximately 180,000 passport applications each year. On average, 30 per cent of these are issued during May and June. 60 per cent of all applications are normally submitted and delivered through the postal system. As a result of the postal dispute, the vast majority of recent applications were submitted and collected in person, adding greatly to the usual seasonal pressures on the office. A variety of measures, including recruitment of additional staff and weekend opening, were implemented to try to relieve the situation.
The situation has improved significantly following the ending of the postal dispute and arrears which built up during the dispute are now being cleared. However, there are still larger than normal numbers for this time of the year attending the Passport Office. This is due, in part, to the fact that some passport applications which were deferred due to the postal dispute now require to be processed urgently. Every effort is being made to deal with these applications as quickly as possible.
Will the Minister convey to the staff of the Passport Office the thanks of very many people in this House, and of the population in general, for the manner in which they have dealt with the very severe problem which was not of their making? We have to thank also the people who had to queue during that difficult time. I ask the Minister to propose a vote of thanks to the staff for their tremendous assistance.
I appreciate the Deputy's sentiments but we must proceed here by way of questions.
In reply to Deputy Calleary let me add that up to 80 additional staff members were recruited on a temporary basis to assist the normal staff complement of 40 staff members. The staff also worked extra overtime and the Passport Office was open on Saturdays. Temporary emergency measures were taken to try to facilitate the general public.
I join with the Deputy in expressing our appreciation to the staff for the dedicated manner in which they handled the difficult situation.
Hear, hear.
