Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. The sentiments they have expressed are sentiments I know only too well. I apologise for the absence of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, but I am glad that the director of the passport service has been in the Chamber throughout the debate.

Many suggestions have been made by Deputies during this debate. There were some good suggestions and many of them have already been applied. I remind people that we want them to apply online at this time, not to go to the post office. The passport service has been engaging this week with the Department of Justice. Deputy Ó Cuív's suggestion is excellent, unfortunately. We do not say it with any joy or celebration but people will have to reconsider going to part-time Garda stations. Deputy Nash made the point that the station in Laytown in my constituency is a part-time Garda station. However, if people want to be absolutely sure, they will have to go to the full-time Garda stations. It is not a cause for celebration, and I am not saying it is, but at this particular time that will have to be done. There are other methods that have been suggested and that should be examined in terms of electronic records and the like. They all are things that should be happening.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh made a very useful point about a reminder service. That will be a part of the reform of the passport service and it will happen.

Deputy Conway-Walsh made quite a good point, which I will answer now. She welcomed the new staff, I think, but asked if the existing staff's time would be taken up training them. That is a valid point and it has been taken into consideration in respect of the number of staff it was felt was needed.

Deputy Pringle made the probably valid point that we should be able to plan for this, but it is also the case that there has been a massive increase in the number of applications this year compared with the number pre Covid. We are processing record numbers of passports. In the run-up to Covid, which was unpredictable, we had the Brexit-related increase. That has levelled off a bit, but I think the number going through at present is unprecedented.

As for the idea that has been out there that the public are being blamed for the 40% of applications at issue, I will be very clear. I am not blaming the public. We should not do so. I will clarify the 40% figure. It is not that 40% of applications have mistakes on them. Let us be clear about that. If that message went out, it should not have. Approximately half of the 40% relates to people who have applied and then just have not submitted the documents. There will be many people in that position. They may not be in a rush. They are included in that 40%. Those are not mistakes. A huge proportion of the 40% does not involve mistakes. There certainly are mistakes - there is no question about that - but they are not at that level. We may need to look at this issue when reviewing the forms just to see exactly how many mistakes there are.

The Tánaiste has suggested that people go online only for renewals but, effectively, we are already asking people to do that. Deputy Paul Murphy said that some people should be given the option of using paper. That option is there at present. The truth is that, no matter what our best intentions are, an online system, in principle, should be a lot faster than paper or the post because it is done instantaneously and the applicant does not need to wait for the post office to post the application. Again, we do not want to blow too many trumpets, but it should be noted that more than 40% of online adult renewals are done within two days. There are problems, and I acknowledge them and am not being defensive about them in any way, and I do not want to be here either, with all of us making cases for our constituents, but the online process has brought huge success. While people question the extent of the need for witnesses and the series of provisions in that regard, they are probably necessary because of the seriousness of the document. However, I cannot answer Deputy McAuliffe as to why a member of the Garda Síochána is required here while there are other categories allowed for applications done outside the Twenty-six Counties. It is a fact, however, that the more stringent the witnessing on the first application, the more efficient subsequent renewals can be done, so there is a method in the madness. We just want to get it done as efficiently as possible. Witnessing does allow all subsequent applications to be done much more quickly.

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