John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are serious problems, particularly for first-time applicants, as the Minister acknowledged, but also those seeking children's passports. There are massive delays. I am working with a family whose story, I am sure, could be shared by every Deputy.

The family, who want to go away this weekend, are still waiting on their children's passports. The estimated time for the passports to be issued is not until later in the month, even though they applied well in time. Unfortunately, many families have had to cancel holidays up to this point. The fear is that unless measures are taken now, this will be replicated as we get closer to the summer period.

Yesterday alone, my office dealt with ten passport applications where the applications exceeded the target issue date. That was just one day, and I am sure that is replicated across the board. What percentage of applications at this point are exceeding the target date by which people have been told passports would be issued?

See this speech in context