Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Mullen for raising this matter. The Department's authentication and apostille unit is responsible for the authentication of documents to be used abroad, as the Senator stated in his contribution. The unit provides the essential consular services to Irish citizens and businesses by verifying a document's origin and by confirming a signature and seal or stamp appearing on it are genuine.

The services, similar to many, has faced significant challenges in its operation during the Covid-19 pandemic. In line with public health restrictions, public-facing offices were closed in Dublin and Cork in March 2020. Despite this, the authentication and apostille service was quickly identified as essential and I can confirm the Department has continued providing this service throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Staff in both Dublin and Cork have continued to attend and work in the office, throughout all restriction levels, to access the applications and operate specialist printing equipment.

The Covid-19 restrictions have, of course, presented significant challenges to the functioning and delivery of the service. The closure of public offices due to public health restrictions necessitated operational changes to the service by moving it from a public-facing same-day turnaround service to a registered postal-only service. This has lead to an inevitable increase in waiting times and a disruption to well-established work practices.

Furthermore, the duration of level 5 restrictions has required the rotation and division of staff to separate locations in order to respect public health and safety requirements, protect staff and ensure the continuity of the business. The level of applications has also remained extremely high throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and there is currently a backlog.

The Department is aware of the longer than usual turnaround times and strenuous efforts have been invested in managing and minimising these. These efforts have included the setting up of a postal and registry system in conjunction with An Post, the purchasing of new specialist equipment and the sourcing of additional office space to accommodate staff. Further measures have also been taken to address turnaround times and additional staffing has been assigned.

Despite the numerous challenges, the unit processed more than 46,000 applications last year and, to date, has processed 18,477 applications this year. Staff have also been as responsive as possible in accommodating the many urgent requests. I wish to acknowledge the professionalism of the staff in Dublin and Cork in particular, who have continued to operate the service throughout all the levels of the pandemic with great patience and dedication.

I also wish to acknowledge the continuing dialogue and good working relationship with the stakeholders and the public on this matter. We really do appreciate their patience. I assure the Senator that work is ongoing to address the issue and to reduce waiting times as quickly as possible.