66 Mr. Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passports issued in the last 12 months; the revenue accruing from this source; the location and date of establishment of all passport offices outside Dublin city centre; the number of applications dealt with by these offices in the last year or since their establishment; the revenue in each instance; the current waiting time for a passport from the date of application to the date of issue; if extra time is taken to issue passports through offices outside Dublin city centre; the number of applications by post and in person in respect of each office; the number of passports issued to Deputies and Senators in response to representations on behalf of constituents; the numbers, grades and locations of staff dealing with applications and queries in person at passport offices; the numbers, grades and locations of staff dealing with the representations of Oireachtas Members for passports on behalf of constituents in passport offices and in his Department; the steps, if any, he has taken, or will take to decrease the waiting time for passports; the total capital expenditure to date on computerisation in this area; if he will give details of difficulties, if any, being experienced in relation to the implementation of computerisation; his views on whether additional seasonal staff would assist in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Passport Statistics.
Ceist:
The following information on the points raised by the Deputy refers only to passports issued in Ireland; it is not possible in the time available to compile the detailed information sought in relation to passports issued through our embassies and consulates abroad.
Numbers/Revenue
A total of 187,200 passports were issued in the 12 months to end-March 1994, resulting in a receipt of £7,289,500 to the Exchequer.
Offices outside Dublin city centre
A Passport Office was opened in Cork in January 1987. This office received 41,378 applications in the 12 months to end-March 1994 which resulted in a revenue receipt of £1,472,190 to the Exchequer. These figures are included in the overall statistics supplied above for passports issued and revenue generated.
Three temporary offices were opened in Dublin suburban areas — Blackrock, Coolock and Tallaght — on 3 May, 1994. These offices will operate during the peak summer period. Like the Cork office, they will provide information, accept applications for passports and transmit them to the main Passport Office in Molesworth Street for processing. When issued, the passports may be dispatched by post from, or collected at, Molesworth Street. The suburban offices will also have the facility to check on the progress of passport applications through a computer link with the central passport data base in Molesworth Street.
Waiting period
The waiting period for issuing of passports varies in accordance with a number of factors. The number of passport applications received has increased steadily each year for a number of years past. The demand is highly seasonal, the peak period for applications being late spring and early summer. During the current peak period, approximately 50 per cent of passport applications are being made in person at the public offices. For these personal callers, passports are normally produced in two weeks; in cases of urgency, they are produced in a shorter period. For postal applicants, the processing time can be considerably longer and steps are being taken as a matter of urgency to reduce the waiting period for these applicants.
No extra time is involved in issuing passports to persons who submit their application through offices outside Dublin city centre.
Applications by post/in person
A detailed breakdown of personal and postal applications is available only for applications submitted through the Dublin Passport Office from 21 September 1993 — the date the new computer system was installed in that office. Between that date and 31 March 1994, a total of 34,263 personal applications and 56,132 postal applications were made to the Dublin office. Pending the installation of full computer facilities in the Cork Passport Office, a breakdown between personal and postal applications there is not available.
Representations by Members of the Oireachtas
Since 1 January 1994, a total of 1,672 passports have been issued in response to representations made by Deputies and Senators on behalf of constituents.
Staff dealing with personal applications
The number and grades of staff dealing with applications made by personal callers varies throughout the year depending on demand. At present, of the total of 73 permanent and 72 temporary staff working in the passport offices, including the suburban offices, in Dublin and Cork the following are the numbers dealing with personal callers:
DUBLIN
|
Public Offices |
24 |
(2 Executive Officers/Staff Officers, 22 Clerical Officers/Clerical Assistants/Temporary Clerical Assistants) |
|
Phones/ Information Desk |
8 |
(1 Staff Officer, 7 Clerical Officers/Clerical Assistants/Temporary Clerical Assistants) |
|
Total |
32 |
CORK
|
Public Office |
3 |
(Clerical Officer/Clerical Assistants) |
|
Phones |
2 |
(2 Clerical Assistants) |
|
Total |
5 |
Two members of staff in the Passport Office in Molesworth Street — one staff officer, one clerical assistant — are involved in co-ordinating responses to representations made by Members of the Oireachtas; there is also some involvement on the part of two staff members in my office — two clerical officers — and two staff members in the Minister of State's Office — one clerical officer, one clerical assistant. No staff are involved in this work in the Cork Passport Office or the suburban offices.
Steps to decrease waiting time
I have already taken a number of initiatives, and others are in the course of implementation, with a view to improving the quality of service to the public and reducing the waiting time for passports. These include:
—retention of the low-season cost reduction to encourage applications in the off-peak period,
—a major upgrading of the computer system enabling more efficient tracking of applications and information retrieval — see below,
—the extension of the premises in Molesworth Street to the ground floor in March of this year which has greatly improved and increased the accommodation for the public. The capacity now exists to deal with a greater number of counter applicants and the average waiting time for counter service has been substantially reduced. A new larger capacity telephone system will be installed shortly to further facilitate public contact with the office,
—the opening of the temporary suburban passport offices is designed to further reduce congestion in the Moleworth Street office during the peak summer period.
I also envisage that the Passport Office in Cork will be expanded and upgraded to the status of a full passport issuing office for the Munster area by the end of 1994. The question of establishing a further issuing office for the Connacht-Ulster area will be considered subsequently.
Computerisation
A total of £576,000 has been spent to date on computerisation of the Passport Office. No difficulties, other than normal transitional problems, were encountered in the implementation of this project.
Staffing
My Department is currently implementing a major restructuring of the staff in the Dublin Passport Office in line with the recommendations of a recent Department of Finance management survey. This involves a substantial increase in the permanent staff from 48 to 82 and the upgrading of a number of posts. Temporary staff will continue to be recruited for peak periods although there will be some reduction in the numbers required.
The new staffing structure is designed to ensure that the Passport Office has the capacity and flexibility to meet anticipated demand effectively on a year-round basis. Most of the new permanent staff are now in place and the remainder will be assigned as soon as possible. It is expected that the full benefit of these staffing measures will increasingly be felt in the coming months. In the meantime, a number of additional temporary staff have recently been recruited to the office.