Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 May 2017
322. Deputy Brendan Ryan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the additional human and financial resources that have been allocated to cope with the unprecedented demand for new passports and passport renewals since January 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25314/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince January 2017 almost 230 Temporary Clerical Officers have been assigned to the Passport Service and appointed to the Passport Offices in Balbriggan, Mount Street and Cork.
Temporary Clerical Officers in the Passport Service are typically hired on twenty-six week contracts. The salary scale for these officers is the Clerical Officer salary scale, which ranges from €438.46 per week to €734.78 per week.
A number of additional permanent Clerical Officers from within the Department have also been assigned to the Passport Service in response to the exceptionally high volumes of applications received this year.
Targeted overtime for the Passport Service has also been sanctioned to increase processing capacity. From 1 January up until the end of April, the total cost of overtime was €196,912.
These measures have contributed to bringing the average turnaround time for Passport Express renewals back in line with the target of fifteen working days, as of the week ending 26 May. First-time applications and applications to replace lost, stolen or damaged passports take longer due to additional security checks and are currently two working days over target, with an average turnaround time of 22 working days.
As take-up of the Online Passport Application Service increases, it will considerably enhance overall passport processing capacity and contribute to reducing turnaround times for all channels. I therefore urge all Deputies to encourage adults who are renewing their passports to do so online. The turnaround time for online renewals is just ten working days plus postage time.
Further, I urge all Deputies to encourage citizens to register for the free passport renewal reminder email service provided by my Department at the following web address: https://www.eforms.gov.ie/en/reminder/passport/.
