Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Ó Murchú. I have lost count of the number of people who have come to my constituency office looking for support in trying to obtain their passport within the timeframe they were given by the Passport Office. They are being left in limbo because the service seems to be at breaking point. The staff in the Passport Office are doing their best in very challenging circumstances, but we need to look at an overhaul of the service. A campaign may be needed to show people how easy it is to use the online system. In doing so, however, we must be mindful that there are people who are not computer literate. Additional supports may need to be put in place to assist them. The Minister of State said that the majority of delays relate to application forms not being filled in correctly. We need to simplify the form and make it easier for people to complete.

The majority of people who contact my office about passports are complaining that the passport tracker system is not reliable. They also tell me that it is next to impossible to get through to the webcam chat facility or the telephone service. People have told me they took a day off work and made hundreds of calls but still did not get through. This is causing a massive amount of stress. We must get real about what is happening. People are losing out on holidays, which is costing them a lot of money because they have already booked airline tickets and paid money to travel agents.

Could something equivalent to the national car test, NCT, system be introduced, whereby a reminder email would be sent to people telling them when their passports will expire? This might prevent the big rush that happens in summertime when large numbers are trying to access passports. In addition, the logbook system used by the Garda needs to be integrated with the Passport Office system. The systems that are in place do not seem to be communicating with each other. There is a job of work for the Minister of State and his officials to do to address these problems. I hope we can get them resolved as soon as possible and that we do not have any more people stressed out trying to get their passports.

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