Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

What is happening with passport applications is unacceptable. There is bad communication, people are not answering the phone and applicants are sometimes waiting for hours with no reply. I rang the office myself last week. Someone on the phone says you are number five on the list, then number four and then all of a sudden you are number 40. It is crazy what is happening. People think this is just about people going on holidays but it is not. There many people who have medical emergencies, deaths abroad or family members who are sick and they just want to visit them. In fairness to them, they apply for the passport in plenty of time. They are told the passport will be ready on 4 May and they are going on 6 May. Then 4 May comes and there is still no sign of it. They are panicked and frustrated. Many people will not have sympathy for Deputies and Senators but we are the ones getting the brunt of this. For the past number of years every phone call I received was about housing, but at the moment, nearly every phone call to my constituency office is about passports. People are shouting and roaring. They are frustrated and are giving out. The problem is they apply in plenty of time but there is no communication from the Passport Office. Nobody is answering the phone and it is frustrating people. That is totally wrong.

Another serious problem is that when a child applies for a passport, especially a first-time passport, one of the parent's passports has to accompany the application. When there is no sign of the passport, one of the parents will ring up and be told there is a problem with the passport and the office needs A, B and C. The parents then have two options. They can cancel the passport for the child, get their passport back and reapply, or they can go ahead with the existing application. It can be very frustrating and it is not fair.

The number of people's holidays that have been cancelled is unreal. It is not one or two holidays. People think the passport is coming on a certain date, and when it does not come, they get on to the travel agency and pay an extra bit of money to get the dates changed. Then it does not come the second time. It is causing a serious amount of frustration. People just want to know the truth and what is actually happening. With first-time passports for children, the main problem seems to be with the child's photograph. People could be waiting up to six weeks before they know if the picture was accepted, and then if there is a problem, they may have to start again. It is causing real problems. The application is scanned when it comes in. I do not see why they do not check the documentation there as the first port of call and then, if there is a problem, let the people know. It is all to do with frustration and bad communication.

The Minister of State said earlier that 340 extra staff had been employed since last year. Thanks be to God for that because I would hate to be coming in here today if there were not an extra 340 staff there. Nobody is blaming the staff. It is the people at the top causing the problem. It is just bad organisation. I accept that about 500,000 passports have been issued so far so far this year, and I believe the Passport Office is doing an additional 5,000 passports a day. I know the staff are doing their best. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, spoke about online applications. He said it would take ten working days for a single adult, 15 days for a complex child renewal and 30 working days for a first-time application.

He went on to state that applications submitted by post will take eight weeks. That was a lovely letter that I received from the Minister and I thought it was great, but it is not reflected in the many phone calls I have been getting to my constituency office.

We knew two years ago that this would happen, given we always knew the pandemic would one day subside, but we did not plan for it and that is the problem. I appeal to the Minister of State and everyone in the Department to resolve this, whether that requires hiring more people or just sorting out the people at the top. Please get it right.

See this speech in context