Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am glad to take this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, who is at a Cabinet meeting and could not be here. The Senator raises an important area because there has been a significant focus on passports in the past four or five months, with much pressure on the system. All online applications are processed in the same way. This includes all applications from throughout Ireland, North or South. Renewal applications, since citizenship has already been established, are generally processed with a turnaround time of ten working days for adult renewals and 15 working days for child or complex renewals regardless of where the application is made. Therefore, there is no difference in processing time for renewal applications between those applicants with addresses in Northern Ireland or in the State.

First-time applications are more complex regardless of where people are from due to increased complexity of documentation required to confirm the person's identity and entitlement to citizenship. First-time applicants resident within the State must have their identify and consent forms witnessed by a member of An Garda Síochána. A log of such applications is maintained by An Garda Síochána, which allows for a streamlined verification process. First-time passport applicants resident outside the State, including in Northern Ireland, can avail of a broad range of witnesses for this purpose. The witnessing of these forms is a vital element of the identity verification process for the Passport Service, as it provides initial assurance that the person in the photograph is the same person who submitted the passport application form. It is of great importance that we get that right. In the case of an application for a minor, the witnessing of this form provides evidence that guardians give consent for a passport to be issued to the child. In order to protect the rights of parents or guardians and children, it is important that forms are fully verified by the Passport Service by contacting the witness directly. That is key. One might be surprised at the number of applications that are received without the consent of parents. That part of the work is taken seriously to make sure we get it right.

First-time applications from outside the State, including Northern Ireland, can also be more complex due to the variety of documentation received from other jurisdictions. Officers processing these applications must therefore be highly skilled and experienced. The Passport Service takes its responsibility to protect the integrity of the Irish passport seriously. The Irish passport has a strong international reputation due to the strength of the security features within the passport book and the robust processes involved in its issuance. The Irish passport was recently ranked fifth in the Henley Passport Index as it provides our citizens with visa-free access to 187 countries. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship status of first-time applicants. As a result, processing time for these applications can take a little longer.

The Passport Service continues to see an increasing demand for passports from citizens in Northern Ireland. A dedicated team has been deployed to focus solely on first-time applications from applicants resident in Northern Ireland with a view to significantly improving the turnaround times for these more complex applications. In the past four weeks, the Passport Service has issued an average of almost 6,000 passports per day and considerable improvements can be seen across the system. The Department of Foreign Affairs has made a significant investment in the Passport Service since last year to enhance customer service. The Passport Service is confident that the increased resources that have been allocated will improve the service to all of our citizens regardless of their place of residence, whether in Ireland or overseas.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I certainly will. I will bring them back to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Brophy. The point the Senator raises about extra resources and access to the hub for our political colleagues is fair. I will raise that because it would make sense for when applications are processing. The arrangements in the South with members of the Garda as witnesses can cause difficulty with tracking witnesses too. That area is being examined to see if we can improve and streamline it. There has been a significant effort in the Passport Service to deal with the number of applications received over the past year. The dedicated team to deal with applications from Northern Ireland should help too. I will bring the issues the Senator raised back to the Minister.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has made an unprecedented investment in the Passport Service over the past 12 months. This investment in people and systems has had a considerable impact on the level of service being provided by the Passport Service. More than 720,000 passports have been issued to date in 2022. In comparison, a total of 634,000 passports were issued in the whole of 2021. By the middle of the year, the Passport Service had already surpassed the total number of passports issued since last year. We know the pressure it is under because all of us in both of these Houses deal with queries about passports through our offices every day and try to contact the Passport Service. There is pressure on the whole system, but it is responding. The increase in the number of people involved in the system is certainly helping.

While 2021 was an unusual year, figures from 2019, which was the previous busiest year before the pandemic, show that the Passport Service is outperforming 2019 figures by almost 20%. More than 570 staff have been assigned to the Passport Service since June 2021, with more than 200 new staff assigned since May of this year. These recruitment efforts, coupled with the targeted deployment of staff to work on applications from Northern Ireland, will significantly impact the turnaround times for complex first-time applications, including those from our citizens resident in the North. I hope that is of assistance to the Senator.