Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take the Deputy's point. We are trying to move the entire system online so that people can interact with the Passport Office from their homes, either through the webchat function or by contacting an efficiently run call centre that answers their calls. That call centre has been under extraordinary pressure in recent months. We have had to add significantly to its size, and that is happening. We have done that efficiently. Rather than going through a long recruitment process, which takes time, we have instead linked in with the HSE to get large numbers of contact tracers to come onto the passport call line system. That is the most efficient way of doing it within the Civil Service and the public sector. That only started this week. The public will see a significant improvement in service this week. Even if one goes to the Cork office, the passports are not printed there, so the urgent appointments system in Cork gives a four-day turnaround rather than a one-day turnaround. We cannot have passport offices all over the country. We need to have an efficient system, but we will keep an open mind on whether it is appropriate to add to the footprint. For now, we are focusing on turnaround times.

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