Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the focus of the Deputy in respect of urgent cases. The Passport Office has implemented operational and staffing plans for 2023. In general, it is meeting demand. All processing times are at their target levels. I have been told that there are no backlogs. As I said earlier, approximately half of simple adult renewals are issued within two working days. Approximately 18 competitions were run in 2021 to get staff. We have the customer service hub.

When documentation is sent back to people and applications are then resubmitted, they are not sent to the back of the queue as is commonly understood. We have 165 one-day and 250 four-day appointments available at the Passport Office in Dublin each week. There are 240 four-day appointments available at the Passport Office in Cork each week. This is one option relating to urgent cases that people can take. For a child renewal, a one-day appointment can be available and there is the four-day service. There are costs involved in this as there are for adult renewals.

There is a difference between urgent and emergency cases. I know Deputy Carthy is not speaking about emergency cases but urgent appointments. There is a service available for in-person passport renewals. If Deputy Carthy has any particular cases that could illustrate the issue for improvement, we will certainly engage with him.

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