Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At a previous meeting, the Secretary General of the Department, Mr. Niall Burgess, told us there was a backlog of 89,000 passports that would be cleared by the end of July. Deputy Munster asked in 2021 whether it was likely that everything would "be cleared by the end of July, or at least mid-July, as opposed to the end of June as stated." Serious problems were outlined but here we are 12 months later with very much the same issue. It is reported in the media there are currently 195,000 people waiting for travel documents. Not all of them are part of the backlog. What is categorised as part of the backlog at present? What is not being issued on time?