Matt Carthy
Ceist:8. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has given consideration to the opening of a passport office in Northern Ireland. [28848/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 15 June 2023
Ceisteanna (8)
Freagraí ó Béal (10 píosaí cainte)
Will the Tánaiste outline if he is willing to progress plans to open a passport office in the North?
As I said earlier, Passport Online has allowed for the centralisation of passport processing resulting in greater efficiencies for the service and for customers. A total of 90% of applicants last year applied through Passport Online and that figure will continue to grow as the passport service's digital first strategy continues to roll out.
Demand for passports from Northern Ireland remains steady and represents about 10% of total applications received by the passport service. So far this year, the Passport Office has issued more than 64,000 passports to applicants residing in Northern Ireland. Out of the total of 78,000 applications received from Northern Ireland to date in 2023, almost 70,000 of these were made using Passport Online.
More than half of all simple adult online renewals issue within two working days, meaning that for many the online renewal service is faster than the four-day urgent appointment service offered at the counter in the Passport Office in Dublin and Cork. First-time applications are the most complex and it is therefore not possible to process these at an in-person appointment. It is important to note that the passport service public counters do not function as a walk-in service for passport queries. The urgent appointment service operates by appointment only through an online booking system.
Applicants in Northern Ireland who have a query about their application should contact the passport service customer service hub. The passport service website also provides comprehensive guidance to applicants on all aspects of the application process, from video guides to tracking an application in real time.
In view of the fact that the overwhelming majority of passport applicants apply online and the considerable benefits of Passport Online for all of our citizens, the Department is of the view that a strong business case cannot currently be made for opening an additional passport office in the North. The Passport Service will continue to consider ways it can improve its service to all citizens regardless of where they live.
I am very disappointed with that response. We spoke of the urgent appointment service which operates both in Dublin and in Cork. In fact, a person can get an urgent appointment service in London but not in the North of our own country. This has a particular real impact for people who are obliged to travel to either Dublin or Cork. I know that my colleague Deputy Pearse Doherty regularly speaks to me about the burden of people from his constituency in Donegal having to travel to Dublin when they need to make an appointment of this nature because that is a much bigger undertaking than if somebody gets the 49 bus or whatever into the centre of Dublin. I urge the Tánaiste to reconsider the response he has been given and give real consideration to this prospect.
Of the 78,000 applications received from Northern Ireland to date in 2023, almost 70,000 of these were made using Passport Online. The direction of travel is online. The business case just is not there for a physical office. Increasingly, we will be going online. With regard to a physical office, if 70,000 out of 78,000 are applying online, that number is going to increase next year and the year after. Others were looking for an office in the west as well as in the North, but I believe that the business case for physical offices in those locations is receding not only because of the growth of the utilisation of the online service but because of the efficiency of that service and the degree to which people are responding to it.
In an earlier question the Deputy raised the issue of a portal. I believe it is operating, I am told, on a similar basis to the Oireachtas phone line to facilitate MLAs to bring urgent cases to the attention of the passport service. Since its launch on 17 April until 2 June, the passport service has handled 280 queries through the MLA portal. I believe Deputy Ó Murchú had asked that question earlier.
On that issue, that is not the same service that was being offered to Oireachtas Members who have a phone line and there is a difference. I have used both and nothing beats actually talking to a human being sometimes when dealing with a specific case.
If we use the business logic which has been prepared and put forward in the Tánaiste's response in respect of this office, then I regret to inform him that the next logical step is that somebody is going to propose closing the Passport Office in Cork. I would not support that and I do not know whether the Tánaiste would.
Deputy Carthy should consult Deputy Ó Laoghaire on that point.
Yes, and I am sure he would be aghast to hear-----
Or Deputy Gould.
-----of such a prospect because this is more than business. It is about a service being provided to citizens. Yes, the vast bulk of people apply online, wherever they are applying from. Urgent and emergency cases and appointments are usually made by people who have previously made their application online. It is because an urgency or an emergency emerges that they need access. It is a service we operate and we acknowledge that it operates, by and large, very well. It can operate better and one of the ways in which it could operate better would be if we had an office network which was actually accessible to people across the country.
The Department has made clear that a business case does not exist right now. We have had queries all morning, with people wanting us to improve the service to make it faster and more efficient. There are choices in how we deploy staff. There has been a very significant push on innovation and in making the service more streamlined in respect of the birth certificate, for example. A total of 16,000 birth certificates have been delivered online as opposed to people having to get physical birth certificates in the past. This involves our collaboration with the General Register Office. That is all very positive and that is the direction of travel. If we can streamline this more and more, it will be more technology driven into the future. There has been an exponential rise in the use of technology but, to be fair to the service, it has improved very significantly mainly because of the focus on the online side of it. There are issues in respect of the paper applications still and we have to keep working to see if we can speed up that side of it, but we will keep the issue under review.
Question No. 9 taken with Written Answers.