Written Answers Nos. 344-363
351. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will consider putting outreach clinics in place in each county to facilitate first-time passport applications, thereby minimising mistakes and accelerating turnaround times ahead of the summer holiday season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27970/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraOver half a million passports have been issued so far this year. Last year, 634,000 passports were issued in the whole year. In less than five months, the Passport Service has issued over 80% of the total number of passports that were issued in the whole of last year.
The Passport Service is already out-performing any previous year, despite the challenges that it has encountered over the past two years. In 2019, which was the busiest year for passports pre-Covid, the Passport Service had issued 445,000 passports by the third week of May. In the same time period this year, over 520,000 passports have been issued.
99% of all child and adult online renewal applications are issued within the standard turnaround time and almost half of all adults who renew their passports online will receive their new passport in the post within 2 working days. This compares very favourably with passport services internationally.
Since March, processing times for first time applications have already been reduced by 25% and applications now take 30 working days rather than 40 days. From Monday, 6 June, it is hoped that, based on current trends, this processing time will decrease yet again to 25 working days for first time applications. That means that, in the space of three months, processing time for first-time applications will have been reduced by almost 40% as a direct result of the substantial level of investment that the Department has made in the Passport Service.
The Passport Service have been proactively planning for this significant increase in demand for many months and have made an unprecedented investment in the staffing and resources necessary to meet this demand.
The Passport Service is currently experiencing high demand for first time passports, particularly for children. First time passport applications take longer to process than renewal applications and there are a number of reasons for this. First time applications are necessarily complex to process, since, in many cases, they are applications for Irish citizenship. The Passport Service must validate the identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship. It is the statutory responsibility of the Passport Service to protect the integrity of the Irish passport. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship status of first time applicants.
In the case of first time passport applications for children, the consent of guardians must also be thoroughly validated. Due to the intensive analysis and extra measures undertaken by highly trained and experienced staff, first time applications take 30 working days to process.
The Passport Service makes every effort to provide clear and comprehensive instructions for applicants, using plain English. In 2019, the Passport Service won the National Adult Literary Agency (NALA) award for Plain English for the Passport Online Renewal service.
There are several resources currently available to applicants and parents of first-time applicants in order to ensure that their application is submitted correctly.
The Passport Service encourages applicants to check the requirements for their type of application carefully on my Department's website. The recently updated website includes a new Passport Service section where applicants can easily find out what additional documents are required for their type of application.
The Passport Service has also released public education materials in the form of video tutorials with a view to assisting applicants to complete their application correctly. These videos are available on the Department's website and Youtube page and are being shared on social media. They include instructions on submitting photos and consent forms for child applications correctly. The videos can be found here:
www.dfa.ie/passports/photo-guidelines/
www.dfa.ie/passports/consent-for-children/
The Passport Service Customer Service Hub is available to respond to customer queries by phone and webchat. The Customer Service Hub handled over 100,000 queries to date this year and is currently handling over 6,000 customer contacts each week. During times of high demand, there can be delays in getting through to a service agent due to the high volumes of enquiries. The Passport Service webchat is also operational and customers should refresh the page if the icon is grey. A webchat operator is available when the icon is green.
The Customer Service Hub will be the initial priority for allocation of new staff from the recent Temporary Clerical Officer competition ran by the Passport Service. The first group of officers from this competition started on Monday, 23 May. Officers will continue to be assigned over the coming weeks with the aim of increasing staff at the Passport Service to over 900. This represents a doubling of staff numbers since June 2021.
The Passport Service is currently experiencing unprecedented demand for passports. For resource and other operational reasons it would not be feasible to open outreach clinics in each county. However, my Department and the Passport Service will continue to consider ways in which to enhance the customer experience for citizens, particularly through the Passport Reform programme which is ongoing.
355. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are delays in finalising applications for foreign birth registrations; the status of a foreign-birth registration of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28051/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe processing of Foreign Birth Registration has resumed and will be gradually scaling up in line with the recruitment of additional resources. Due to the complex nature of the Foreign Birth Registration process, the large increase in applications received following the Brexit vote in the UK, and the pause in the Service due to necessary Covid-19 restrictions, applicants should allow approximately 2 years from the receipt of supporting documentation for processing of Foreign Birth Registration applications at this time. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, and the subsequent reassignment of Foreign Birth Registration staff to assist in the provision of essential passport services, the Foreign Birth Registration Service was paused for nearly 15 months across the 2020-2021 period.
The application referenced was registered on 1 April 2022 and is being stored in a secure environment. The Passport Service wrote to the applicant on 25 April 2022 with regard to his application.
The FBR service operates a transparent general policy of processing applications in order of receipt. FBR staff continue to provide an emergency service for Foreign Birth Registration in cases of exceptional urgency, such as expectant parents, or stateless persons.
356. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has spoken directly with the Irish Consul General in Sydney to date in 2022. [28080/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAlthough I have not had a meeting so far in 2022 with our Consul General in Sydney, I am kept fully informed of the Consulate's work by officials in my Department, who are in almost daily communication with the office.
In April, I was pleased to host the first in-person gathering of our Heads of Mission and senior management since the onset of COVID-19. During the Conference I engaged with Ireland's Ambassadors and Consuls General from around the world. Ireland's Consul General in Sydney participated in the Conference.
I would like to again pay tribute to the staff of the Consulate General for their exceptional efforts throughout the pandemic when they provided extraordinary and uninterrupted assistance to the large Irish and Irish-Australian community in New South Wales. In addition to providing consular services, the Consulate General has continued its broad range of activities promoting Ireland’s interests, especially in promoting our economic links with New South Wales.
362. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his engagement or engagements by officials in his Department with an organisation (details supplied) concerning the renaming of a postal passport system; the number of staff involved; their respective grades and the estimated working hours committed to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28152/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere is regular and ongoing engagement between the Passport Service and An Post across a range of issues. A number of officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs have engaged with An Post on the rebranding of the "Passport Express" service this year.
The Deputy Secretary General, Operations held a meeting with An Post earlier this year to discuss a range of issues. During this meeting the subject of rebranding the "Passport Express" service was raised.
The Director of the Passport Service (Principal Officer) engages with An Post as a key stakeholder supporting Passport Services on a regular basis where rebranding was also discussed.
In recent weeks, an Assistant Principal at the Passport Service worked with officials at An Post to coordinate the announcement of the rebranding by An Post and to ensure that Passport Service customers would be aware of the change through the Passport Service's digital materials. In addition, a HEO made necessary changes to the Passport Service's webpages on www.dfa.ie to reflect the change in name of this service.
