Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this Topical Issue. I also thank the Minister and I am pleased to see him in attendance. I compliment his Department and officials in terms of my dealings with them on many matters.

We may have express buses and express trains but we certainly do not have an express passport application process in the Department. It is a huge concern not only to my constituents but to all throughout the country who are represented in the House, so much so that since the Topical Issue was tabled today four Deputies have asked me to raise specific issues, which I will do later.

The current delay is unacceptable in the turnaround times for the issuing of passports applied for through the passport express system operated by An Post. Until last month, people were still being told by their local post offices that the turnaround time was ten working days. I have seen cases where the turnaround time extended to up to four weeks, double what people were told. I will give the example of a mother of a child with special needs, who spent more than €1,500 on a holiday for herself and the child. Her passport was out of date so she applied on 11 April through passport express. She thought she was doing the right thing because she read the small print, which stated the renewal of the passport would be expedited within ten working days. Instead, she received her passport on 9 May and missed her holiday, which was due to commence on 7 May. The travel agency would not even cover the loss because of the passport not issuing. This week, I heard of another case of a four week wait for a passport express application.

I also want to bring to the attention of the Minister a big problem with passport express applications, whereby people who experience delays and have imminent travel arrangements cannot get any joy when they apply for an urgent appointment as they are told that because they applied through passport express the application cannot be retrieved and, therefore, expedited in any way. This is something that needs to be looked at and changed. Today the Department's website states the turnaround time for a passport express application is 16 working days. For the new online application system the turnaround time is ten working days. This is another issue with which I have problem. There should not be any priority given to online applications over passport express. Most of my constituents, particularly those in rural areas, do not have adequate broadband to access the online system, but this is a Topical Issue for another day.

I am aware the Passport Office has hired more staff to deal with the influx of applications due to Brexit. Anyone who has a parent or grandparent born in Ireland is entitled to a passport. Surely people applying for an Irish passport for citizenship reasons should be on a different track, especially where there is no urgent need. Latest figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade show applications from the UK increased by 74% in January compared with the same time last year, and that in January this year more than 7,000 people from Northern Ireland applied for an Irish passport, which is an increase of 3,973 from the number in the same month last year. With these types of figures and the inordinate delays being experienced, the Minister has obviously not hired enough staff and he needs to look at this.

I have also brought to the attention of the Minister the need for a satellite passport office in Dundalk or another Border town to deal with the increase in applications from Northern Ireland and the UK. Exactly one year ago this week, I raised this issue with the Minister in a Topical Issue debate in the context of the European football finals.

That was pre-Brexit. It is a system that cannot cope. It is unacceptable and in my view it is not fit for purpose.

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