Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As other Deputies have said, there has been utter stress and panic for people for months, to the extent that Deputies' constituency offices are inundated. People are in tears on the phone. People ring the Passport Office hundreds of times, over and over, trying to get through to it and there is not a peep.

The uploading of photographs was mentioned. I came across several issues with constituents who had applied for a passport. For example, a constituent uploaded the photograph online and was given a target date. The target date had passed and my constituent was starting to get a bit panicky. She checked and saw a message to say the photograph had not uploaded. She uploaded it again but got no confirmation at all. She phoned the Passport Office. Obviously, she would still be ringing them waiting for an answer. My constituent uploaded it three times to be then told she had exceeded the security attempt. Ironically, she was told to contact the Passport Office. She contacted my office. When we eventually got through, we were told by somebody there is a problem sometimes if photographs are uploaded with a phone and it is better to do it on the laptop. Why, in the name of God, are people not told that rather than having them checking repeatedly? That is only one example of simple things that could be rectified. There are simple changes that could reduce the stress levels of people that have been caused by the Passport Office.

Another one, which is a bone of contention, is the target date. When the Passport Service is seeking further information, sometimes it is after the target date that contact is made with the person to seek further information. They scurry around and get that further information only to be told they are to the back of the queue. Where does that make sense? Why was that system let go unchecked? Why is it still operational as of this week that people, despite the fact they were only contacted after their target date, submit the further information to be told they are at the back of the queue? Many people have missed their chance of a holiday. They have had two years of a pandemic. Many people have set holidays. If they work in certain areas, they are given two weeks in July or two weeks in June and they have no option to change their holidays. Many families have been looking forward to their first holiday in possibly three years only to be told the passport has not arrived in time, so they miss their holiday and have no other option but to stay at home for their two weeks and think maybe next year they might get away or, as in multiple cases, a single family member does not get his or her passport on time when other members have and that person has to stay at home. It beggars belief. I am not being rude, but it is utter incompetence having a system whereby a target date is given, the person is not contacted, and when he or she is contacted for further information, that person goes to the back of the queue.

There is another issue about watermarks. There was another constituent who had submitted the birth certificate three times to be accused wrongly of sending in copies. My office spoke to someone who issues civil legal documentation and was told there was a problem in the Passport Office reading watermarks. Is that true? Has it been corrected?