Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to conclude by giving the Senator a sense of the scale of the PPSN operation in the Department of Social Protection. In 2022, more than 236,000 PPSNs were allocated. Between January and April this year alone, more than 67,000 PPSNs have been allocated. These figures do not include the PPSNs automatically allocated when a child's birth is registered. As I mentioned, that is 67,000 adults with an average wait time of 1.3 weeks.I do not have a breakdown per county. It should be remembered that the whole idea is do these through an online portal rather than through individual Intreo offices. This approach is enabling efficiencies and speeding up the process. The reason the average wait time is so low is that the Department has ensured cases were prioritised where there was an urgent need to obtain a PPSN. It has also massively increased capacity.

The Senator provided good examples of representations he has received in County Tipperary. As I said, they may be out of kilter with the national norm due to the specific nature of the country from which the person comes. It is crucial that all documents are up to spec to ensure the process operates quickly. I reiterate my offer to assist the Senator wherever I can going forward.