Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 February 2017
261. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps and measures in place to facilitate increased demand for Irish passports following the British referendum to leave the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9152/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Passport Service issued 733,060 passports in 2016. This represented an increase of over 9% on the previous year. We expect the number of passport applications to continue increasing throughout 2017.
The increase in demand is driven by a number of factors including a general increase in the number of Irish residents travelling abroad, a growing population, as well as a significant rise in application numbers from Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The invocation of Article 50 in March is likely to add further to the high levels of increase in passport applications from the UK. Last year applications from Northern Ireland increased by almost 27% compared to 2015 and applications from Great Britain increased by over 40%. Total applications from the UK reached almost 132,000. While this increase in demand from the UK is substantial, it still accounts for only 18% of the total number of passports issued in 2016.
Significant customer service improvements that are being rolled out as part of the Passport Reform Programme will assist in managing growing demand. In particular the new online service for adult renewals to be launched in the coming months will result in reduced turnaround times for applicants and significant efficiency gains for the Passport Service.
In the immediate term and to respond to the seasonal demand and the more general increases, a total of 230 Temporary Clerical Officers have been recruited into the Department. Over half of these Officers are already in place and most others will join by early March. They are assisting permanent staff with passport entitlement checking and customer care, including by responding to queries received via phone calls, emails and social media.
The Passport Service will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure the effective deployment of staff resources and to minimise the impact of the high demand on turnaround times and on customer service. The need for additional resources will be kept under review.
