Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Lynch for tabling this Commencement matter, which I am taking on behalf of An Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris.

The passport service is successfully meeting current demand for passports. To date this year, the passport service has issued more than 536,000 passport books and cards. As the Senator said, last year was a very strong year in terms of the number of passports delivered. The customer service hub is responding to almost 12,000 phone and webchat queries every week.

The passport online service offers Irish citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This award-winning service has allowed for the centralisation of passport processing, which has resulted in greater efficiencies for our citizens across the country and for the passport service. Passport online is a user-friendly, efficient service.Over 93% of all passport applications are now made through the passport online channel, which is available to 99.9% of applicants. Almost half of adults now renew online, and that is the vast majority of passport applications. In that instance, most are processed within two working days. To achieve these types of results and continue to improve the service, the Department has made a huge investment in the passport service. The passport service employs a total of 848 staff, which represents 97% of the approved staffing target for this year. Additionally, where necessary, the passport service offers voluntary overtime to staff to ensure service continuity. This workforce planning ability has allowed the passport service to maintain its current turnaround times in the face of what are really increased demands. The passport service operates three passport book printing machines, and as the Senator said, two of those machines are located in the main production facility in the Balbriggan campus, and the third machine is located in the Dublin 2 office. All three machines are currently located in Dublin.

The printing and dispatching of passports is, as Members are aware, a highly automated process in what is essentially an industrial production system. All production facilities can print passports irrespective of the channel through which the application is processed. We can now print 250 passports per hour through each printer. An Tánaiste is satisfied that the printing capacity of production equipment currently employed by the passport service is sufficient to meet both the current and the projected future demands for passports.

The passport service estimates that the initial capital cost of purchasing and installing a new printer and mailing machine would be in the region of €5.3 million. In addition to that capital investment, these highly sophisticated machines require expert engineers to be on site when they are in operation to maintain and serve the machines and to repair them when necessary. The running and maintenance costs alone are estimated to be approximately €600,000 per year. The public offices of the passport service in Dublin 2 and in Cork, as the Senator mentioned, operate an urgent appointment service for renewals. While I appreciate that the Senator is not satisfied with the turnaround time in Cork being so different from the turnaround time in Dublin, it is still a four-day turnaround time. Therefore, it should help people.

I reiterate that just 1% to 2% of passport applications we deal with require an urgent appointment service. For those reasons, a business case cannot be made to invest the required level of funds to facilitate the very small proportion of applicants who wish to have their passport renewed within a one-day timeframe in Cork. I appreciate that is not the news that the Senator or Councillor Rory Cocking is looking for, but it is the business case I have been asked to outline on behalf of the Tánaiste. He assures me he is satisfied that the current passport online service and production capacity meets the need of passport applicants. We will continue to consider ways in which we can enhance this service going forward.