Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Less might be more on this occasion, so I will be brief enough. To put the issues in context, I have been looking at average passport processing times for our European counterparts. In the UK, for example, there are significant delays, with people looking at anywhere between ten and 12 weeks to receive their passport. The same is true for many other countries in western Europe. I was amused to read that people in Germany are complaining that the average waiting time has gone from 10.4 days to 18.1. Given how renowned the Germans are for efficiency, they are not best pleased with this. This is a problem that is happening right across the Continent. We need to be cognisant that there is a surge in applications.

Nevertheless, there are a number of aspects of the passport service that we can work on and improve. I acknowledge that there has been a major recruitment drive over the past few weeks. I understand the target is to get to 900 employees and that the competition is not yet completed. Will the Minister of State advise us as to where that competition is at and how likely it is that the remainder of those 900 jobs will be filled as quickly as possible?

I note his comment that gardaí are not the only people who can witness a passport application.

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