Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 November 2021
94. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of staff that have returned to the offices of the Passport Office since August 2021; the exact number of persons who are actually working in the offices as of 11 November 2021; the number of persons who work from home as of 11 November 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56209/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of staff working in the Passport Service as of 11 November 2021 is 557.
All Passport Service processing and operations teams are working on site to produce passports. This represents 99% of total staff, allocated to core functions such as customer service; validation and checking; production and dispatch of passports. So far this year, the production and operations teams have delivered over 500,000 passports. On site work began to scale up in earnest from May 4 when Government sanctioned the phased easing of COVID-19 restrictions. A small number of Passport Service staff across administrative, policy or the Passport Reform project may work from home, in line with my Department's current policy that staff attend the office at least one day per week.
My Department attaches the highest priority to ensuring that the Passport Service is resourced to respond to current and anticipated. My Department is actively working with the Public Appointments Service 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 additional 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.
The Passport Service is working with relevant divisions within my Department to ensure the health and safety of all staff is prioritised alongside the business need to serve our citizens. Plans are at finalisation stage thanks to excellent co-operation from the Office of Public Works to ensure that additional staff will be accommodated to meet the anticipated unprecedented demand for passports in 2022.
