Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Bacik raised the issue of passports. We could have a debate, perhaps next week, but there will not be time this week. An additional €10 million has been provided in budget 2022. Passport Service staff numbers have increased by more than 300 since June 2021. There is a recruitment campaign ongoing for temporary clerical officers. The competition is under way and, once complete, we will see staffing numbers of over 900 in the Passport Service, which represents a doubling of staff numbers since last summer. Some 460,000 passports have been issued in 2022 to date. In the same period in 2019, 355,000 were issued.

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