Dáil debates

Thursday, 4 October 2018

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Passport Applications Data

11:20 am

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for that. The Passport Office was put under huge pressure this year. My political office became a passport office for a large part of the year, with staff trying to get emergency passports through quickly. The system had to deal with that, which was not easy. Many other Deputies have also been pushing hard to get individual cases across the line and the Passport Office staff have shown remarkable patience and professionalism. We need to make sure that the system is not under that kind of pressure next year and that we take on a sufficient number of temporary clerical officers. We took on 216 this year for the peak season which is between February and August. Once we get the online system working for children, the process will be a lot faster. An awful lot of family passport applications got caught up in the manual system because it is not yet possible to apply for an updated child's passport online.

The other point to make is that the name of the passport postal service, Passport Express, suggests to many that it is the fastest way to get a new passport but that is not the case. The fastest way to get a passport is through the online application process. People should be applying online to avail of the really quick turnaround time. Our job will be an awful lot easier if we continue to see an increase in the number of online applications. It is a much slicker system with much faster delivery. The more people that apply online, the better.

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