Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 November 2021
363. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of persons that work in the Passport Office in Cork and Dublin since January 2020 to date; the number still working from home; the number that have full access to their systems; the number that been fully paid since March 2020 to date; the number that are receiving their full payments, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54044/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe data on monthly staffing levels in the Passport Service from January 2020 to November 2021 requested by Deputy Collins is outlined below in tabular form. This data covers staffing levels over the entire period of the COVID-19 Pandemic to date. Passport Service staff have been fully paid throughout this period.
During this period, many Passport Service officers were redeployed to assist with the national response to COVID-19, in essential public service roles, such as contact tracing for the HSE, assisting the Department of Social Protection in the processing of COVID-19 related benefits, providing consular assistance to Irish citizens overseas and assisting the Public Appointments Service.
Throughout the Pandemic, the Passport Service provided an emergency passport service for situations such as the death of a relative overseas and other humanitarian reasons. Between January and May of this year, taking into account the COVID-19 protocols in place at the time, 67,000 passport books and cards were issued.
Virtually all staff, (99%), have been working on-site focused on passport production and customer service tasks since the start of May 2021. Staff have full access to the technological systems required to carry out their roles.
Over half a million passports have been issued this year to date and almost 45% of passports for simple online adult renewals issue within one business day. In addition, 5,000 Foreign Birth Registration applications have been processed in cases of exceptional urgency. Since June of the year, the Customer Service Hub has responded to almost 125,000 phone calls and webchat messages.
Adequate staffing of the Passport Service to respond to demand remains a priority for my Department and is an issue that is kept under constant review. The Department is working closely with the Public Appointments Service to recruit and assign additional staff to meet the current and expected demand for passports in the coming months and into 2022.
Passport Service staffing numbers from January 2020 to 1 November 2021
|
Month |
Total number of staff |
|
January 2020 |
627 |
|
February 2020 |
666 |
|
March 2020 |
665 |
|
April 2020 |
659 |
|
May 2020 |
655 |
|
June 2020 |
651 |
|
July 2020 |
595 |
|
August 2020 |
565 |
|
September 2020 |
494 |
|
October 2020 |
486 |
|
November 2020 |
478 |
|
December 2020 |
479 |
|
January 2021 |
477 |
|
February 2021 |
470 |
|
March 2021 |
468 |
|
April 2021 |
466 |
|
May 2021 |
465 |
|
June 2021 |
463 |
|
July 2021 |
499 |
|
August 2021 |
519 |
|
September 2021 |
540 |
|
October 2021 |
551 |
|
1 November 2021 |
557 |
