Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I thank Deputy Durkan for raising the issue. I am responding on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Gilmore. I hope I will be able to assure the Deputy that we are taking action in the Department.

There are currently 51,628 passport applications in the system being processed across the Passport Offices in Molesworth Street, Balbriggan, Cork and London. The figures show an increase in passport demand of 12% in comparison to 2009. Whereas the exact reason for the increase in demand is unclear it is noticeable that passport applications for children are running at a level 18% higher than in the same period in recent years. Discussions with customers have also suggested that much of the demand relates to last minute travel plans made for holiday reasons.

At present the passport service is receiving an average of approximately 4,200 applications per day. There is an unprecedented level of demand in the system, with the number of applications received in four recent days from Irish residents alone at more than 5,200, exceeding by 700 the highest number of applications previously received for any one single day since records were maintained.

The passport service is also coping with an unprecedented demand for passports at short notice, with approximately 350 people per day, on average, coming to the public office seeking passports within a period of less than ten days. On 30 May, more than 600 people submitted applications for a short notice service at the public offices in Molesworth Street and Cork. In the context of the large number of customers using the public counter service, it is not always possible to accommodate all requests for a short notice service. Citizens are advised that the public counter services should only be used in cases of genuine emergency. Priority at the public counters will be given to those who have a necessity to travel for reasons of family emergency, that is, where travel is necessitated by the death, illness or welfare of a family member.

It should also be stressed that to protect the integrity of the system and the quality of the passport, the passport service cannot provide standard passports within a single day. The shortest turnaround time available is three working days for applications received over the public counter accompanied by proof of travel, other than in cases of genuine emergency.

There has been some media commentary on the scale of the delays, some of which has been inaccurate. Whereas the delay of three working days in processing passport express applications is regretted, it is three working days and not the many weeks suggested by some media commentators. Passport express applications are still being produced within a maximum of 13 working days. Equally, more than 70% of applications submitted on the island come through the express service and, accordingly, the number of citizens experiencing weeks of delay has also been overstated in places.

It is regrettable that due to the overwhelming number of applications, those submitted through other channels, that is, through the ordinary post system or from Ireland's overseas missions, do not attract a guaranteed turnaround time and are currently taking more than six weeks to be processed. During the peak summer period, application processing times for the services can lengthen. In such circumstances, priority continues to be given to applications made through the passport express service. Notice of the current extended turnaround time and its likely duration has been published on the passport service website, www.passport.ie. The Passport Office has also informed An Post of the situation so customers can be advised at the point of application.

In January, a series of changes to passport application procedures for first-time adult applicants and those reporting passports lost or stolen were introduced. The changes required that applicants in those categories submit additional documentary evidence to establish identity and entitlement to an Irish passport. The additional documents sought include forms of photographic identification, proof of use of the name of the applicant and proof of residence at the applicant's address. In particular, in the light of recent high profile international incidents relating to passport fraud, the measures were introduced to protect the integrity and international reputation of the Irish passport. Whereas the new measures have had some impact on the time taken to process applications, the impact primarily relates to only a small subset of the overall application demand. Additionally, I should stress that they have been implemented with a degree of commonsense balanced with the overall need to protect against identity theft and passport fraud.

From the start of April the Department took on additional temporary staff to work in the passport service. There are now 85 additional temporary staff in place, and they have been trained in passport processing. In conjunction with some seasonal overtime and other measures under consideration the passport service is seeking to return passport turnaround times to normal levels at the earliest opportunity. In the interim I strongly appeal to the public to assist the passport service by checking the validity of their passports before making bookings to travel abroad. A valid passport should be the first item on any check list when considering foreign travel. I hope the information offers some assurance to Deputy Durkan.

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