Passport Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 November 2021

Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Ceisteanna (311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318)

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

311. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the current wait times for first-time passport applications for children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55980/21]

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

312. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when in-person appointments for emergency passports will return to pre-Covid-19 levels and times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55981/21]

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

313. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when the facility to collect a passport will return; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55982/21]

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

314. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passport applications that missed their deadline for issue for 2020 and to date in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55983/21]

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

315. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of passport applications that are still pending that have missed their issue by date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55984/21]

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

316. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he expects the backlog of passport applications to be cleared by the end of 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55985/21]

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

317. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he expects the turnaround times for passport renewals to improve in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55986/21]

Alan Farrell

Ceist:

318. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are plans for the allocation of additional resources to the Passport Office in anticipation of an increase in applications for travel around the festive season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55987/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Foreign Affairs

I propose to take Questions Nos. 311 to 318, inclusive, together.

Passport Service operations were severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as were many Government Services. Notwithstanding that disruption and the necessary restrictions put in place to protect public health, the Passport Service provided service to our citizens facing a medical emergency of death of a family member abroad at all times since the onset of the pandemic.

The Passport Service has issued over half a million passports to date in 2021 and 45% of simple adult renewals issue within one business day.

The Passport Service is currently experiencing a high demand for first time passports. These first time applications are necessarily complex to process, since they are essentially applications for Irish citizenship. The Passport Service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship. It is the responsibility of the Passport Service to protect the integrity of the Irish passport. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the citizenship status of applicants. In the case of first time passport applications for children, the consent of guardians must also be thoroughly validated. Due to the extra measures involved, processing time for first time online passport applications is 40 working days.

The Passport Offices in Mount St, Dublin 2 and in Cork are now offering an Urgent Appointment Service for the renewal of passports. The Urgent Appointment Service ensures that, for those who unexpectedly require a very urgent turnaround of a passport renewal, there is an option available that is transparent, predictable and clear. It means that an applicant can book and pay for their appointment, safe in the knowledge that they will have their passport within a day, or a few days. To avail of the Urgent Appointment Service for Passport Renewal, applicants must first book an appointment to attend the public office in Dublin or Cork. Applicants can book an appointment through the Department of Foreign Affairs website (www.dfa.ie/passports). Over 800 urgent appointments have been facilitated since the Passport Service launched this service on 27th September 2021. The Passport Service is following public health guidelines in relation to this service in order to protect the health and safety of customers and staff in our public offices and will continue to do so for as long as is necessary.

The processing, printing and dispatch of passports operates on an automated system which handles thousands of passports per week. Passports are delivered very efficiently throughout Ireland by An Post and are generally received by the applicant within one working day. The collection of passports is currently available to people who book an Urgent Appointment at the Passport Offices in Mount St, Dublin 2 and Cork. The collection of passports by online and postal customers cannot currently be facilitated by the Passport Service as this significantly impacts the dispatch of passports for all other customers.

The current passport processing times are:

- 10 working days for Simple Adult renewals

- 15 working days for Complex renewals

- 40 working days for First Time Applications on Passport Online

- 8 weeks for An Post’s mail-in “Passport Express” service

The passport processing times are based on current average application turnaround times and apply to passport applications that are fully complete, where all required supporting documentation has been correctly submitted to the Passport Service by the applicant. The projected passport issue date provided to applicants on the online Passport Tracker provides an indication only of the estimated issue date based on current averages and is not an intended guarantee of service. The projected passport issue date by the Passport Tracker provided does not include postage time.

Applications can take longer than the average turnaround time if applicants have not provided all of the required documentation to correctly complete their application. There are currently 10,000 postal applications and 98,000 online passport applications on hand at the Passport Service. Of the online applications, 34,000 or 35% of applications are incomplete and require the applicant to submit additional documents. The Passport Service engages with all applicants who have not submitted the required documentation to ensure that their application is completed correctly and can proceed through the processing system. Of the online applications that are currently with the Passport Service for processing, approximately 8% are past the estimated issue-by date. These applications are being prioritised by the Passport Service who are working very hard to eliminate these delays.

In 2020, 34,000 passports were issued beyond the initial estimated issue-by date. In 2021, that figure was 135,000. It is important to note that due to pandemic-related restrictions, between January and May of 2021, only emergency passports were issued by the Passport Service. This citizen-critical service required staff to be on site to process and issue emergency passports during Level 5 restrictions. As a result of well implemented safety protocols, 67,000 passports were issued between January and May of this year.

The Passport Service commenced the scaling-up of operations on 4 May 2021 in line with the phased easing of restrictions set out in "COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 - The Plan Ahead". By the end of July 2021, substantial progress had been made in clearing the COVID-19 backlog. All backlog applications which had been completed correctly had been processed and passports issued to applicants. The Passport Service had also been in contact with applicants who needed to submit additional documents. Once those documents were received, the issuance of passports was expedited.

The Passport Service continually examines how to improve processing times and engagement with applicants, particularly in light of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Passport Service and the high demand for passports seen in recent months as international travel resumed.

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. My Department is actively working with the Public Appointments Service on an ongoing basis to recruit and assign additional staff to meet the current and forecasted high demand for passports. We are planning for the recruitment and assignment of an additional 384 permanent and temporary staff between now and the end of January 2022, bringing total staff numbers to 920 and effectively doubling the number of staff at the Passport Service since June of this year.

In addition, the Passport Service is working with relevant divisions within my Department to ensure the health and safety of all staff and is finalising plans in co-operation with the OPW to ensure that additional staff will be accommodated to meet the anticipated increased demand for passports expected in 2022.

In the context of the National Development Plan, my Department is making a major investment in the future of the Passport Service. Over the next couple of years, we will replace the core technology underpinning the service, which will deliver efficiencies and a more resilient passport system. Budget 2022 also included an investment of an additional €10m in passport services in response to the increasing demand for passports both at home and abroad.

I urge citizens to check the validity of their passports before booking travel and to ensure that they apply in plenty of time. In the case of people planning to travel in 2022, whose passports are already out of date or who have children who are first-time applicants, I would encourage them to apply now online.

The Passport Online service continues to be the fastest and most efficient channel for passport applications and is available to first time applicants, both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. All Irish citizens, including children can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world.

Question No. 312 answered with Question No. 311.

Question No. 313 answered with Question No. 311.

Question No. 314 answered with Question No. 311.

Question No. 315 answered with Question No. 311.

Question No. 316 answered with Question No. 311.

Question No. 317 answered with Question No. 311.

Question No. 318 answered with Question No. 311.