Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With all due respect, that is a non-answer. We know bad weather events and Storm Emma occurred. It shows that the system is not robust. If the reason given for the backlog and people waiting five or six weeks for passport renewals is Storm Emma, that is not true. The reality is that resourcing within the service has been decreased year-on-year. In 2012, there were 306 full-time staff in the service. In 2016, there were 269. There was a 12% reduction. I asked the Tánaiste specifically if he has plans to increase the number of staff in the service to deal with the backlog? We are nowhere near it.

The website says 16 days for a renewal but it is not 16 days. I encourage people to use the online renewal service as well. However, first-time applicants and under 18s cannot do so. People are missing trips, holidays, business trips and big events because the resources are not there. Saying it is down to the weather is not really acceptable.

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