Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome today's discussion about the Passport Office. At the outset, I acknowledge the work undertaken by the staff at the Passport Office. Like every organisation, during the pandemic it adapted its practices. It kept an emergency service going throughout the pandemic. Some of the Passport Office staff supported colleagues in the Department of Social Protection. I am sure all Deputies in the House are grateful for their efforts.

With a relaxing of those Covid restrictions, more people need to get passports for the first time or renew existing passports. This, combined with issues relating to recruitment and staffing, has resulted in the backlogs and delays we are discussing today. We are now at a point where thousands of families are approaching summer travel dates and are very worried about having passports issued in time, particularly for children. To be fair, it is clear the passport online processing system for renewals is generally the best and most effective way. I welcome the Minister of State's statement on that today. We need to ensure that is communicated to the public.

The main issue arises where people are making first-time applications, especially for children. The processing time for children's passports is having a significant impact on families as holidays loom. The process of checking the information on those applications can take several weeks, which leads to parents being alerted to problems weeks after the application, which they assumed was okay, becoming a problem. This can then result in a further delay for those applicants and is causing significant distress for parents. This is compounded by the difficulties people are encountering trying to get through to the Passport Office to get further updates on their applications. I ask for the procedure to be reviewed early, perhaps involving early checking of that documentation to resolve any issues relating to pictures, consent forms or other issues that may arise, especially with children's applications.

The Passport Office needs more staff to clear these backlogs. I know the Minister prioritised this and staff are currently being recruited but we need to consider an immediate temporary redeployment of staff.

I ask the Minister of State to look at the online tracking system and the information it gives applicants. It needs to be reformed because I am sure it actually causes some of the queries to the Passport Office.

I also ask the Department to arrange a media campaign to raise awareness about the online service and to promote the urgent appointment service at Lower Mount Street. The one-day and four-day services are useful when people need a passport quickly for a non-emergency issue. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, for being here today. I know he will take these suggestions back to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, the Department and the Passport Office, which is ultimately responsible.

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