Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House.

Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to be in the Chamber to take this matter. I acknowledge my colleague, Councillor Rory Cocking, who has been working closely on this issue with me.

The issue I raise is particularly important at present as we traditionally see a big increase in the number of passport applications made at this time of year, as people head off on their summer holidays. From first-time applications to renewals because of lost or out-of-date passports, I am sure all my colleagues have been contacted at some point regarding a passport application.

We currently have two publicly accessible Passport Offices, one on the South Mall in Cork and one in Mount Street in Dublin, in addition to a passport printing facility in Balbriggan in Dublin. Of these three buildings, only two actually print passports and both are located in Dublin.

Last year, more than 1 million passports were issued and we see forecasts of similar numbers to be issued this year. It is vital that the Department carry out a review of the necessity to establish a passport printing service outside the capital.

In some cases, we are literally talking about a matter of hours as to whether a passport is printed and dispatched or collected, allowing an applicant to travel or not. People may be required to travel to Dublin at short notice to collect a passport and then return to Cork or Farranfore to catch a flight. The current concentration of printing in Dublin is a disadvantage to those coming from other parts of the country. We need to see an expansion of the service.

I welcome the Tánaiste’s recent confirmation that there are 117 staff employed in the Cork Passport Office and that the department is to be moved to a new building next year to allow for increased staffing. This is great news and I really welcome it. It provides us with the perfect opportunity to start printing passports in Cork.

We also see the expansion of Cork Airport, which I note was awarded best European regional airport last week, and the fantastic works going on there, with an estimated 3.4 million travellers expected to use the airport this year, increasing to 5 million within five or six years.

I also mention the possibility of a quicker urgent passport appointment service. This service ensures the quicker turnaround of renewal applications for a slightly higher fee. Currently, urgent renewal services in Cork Passport Office take four days whereas in Dublin Passport Office, the service is a same-day turnaround. We see again here a gross disparity between the Cork and Dublin services. Many from Cork and the surrounds tend to use the Dublin service, as time can always be of the essence. The strong demand for the service means that appointments are at a premium, particularly during the summer and school holidays. As a result, I believe a reduction in the turnaround period in Cork would see in an increase in service users locally, which would, in turn, decrease the pressure on the Dublin services and free up appointments.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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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.

Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. As she correctly outlined, it is not the response I hoped to get. I take the point that passport renewal is a fantastic service, and 99% of people are able to avail of it. However, the issues around time generally are not caused by renewals. They are caused by new applications. It is important for that to be mentioned along with the disparity between a one-day turnaround in Dublin and a four-day turnaround in Cork. I have already mentioned the massive extension of passengers and footfall in Cork Airport. We also have Shannon Airport and Farranfore Airport. These are three quite substantial airports in the south west. This would be a good investment. I appreciate the business case. It is quite a substantial amount of money. I completely accept that. However, the turnaround times are causing difficulty; it is not the renewals. I wish again to pay tribute to the passport staff and the Department staff because in my role as a Senator and in my former role as a councillor, they have been incredibly efficient and helpful. As I said, I feel that this is an area where we are lacking.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. Demand for passports is increasing. That is happening throughout the country and in the Senator’s region too. Given that Cork Airport, Shannon Airport and Farranfore Airport are in the region, I can appreciate that there are people who want to be able to collect and go straight to the airport, but the message from the passport service is not to rely on an urgent turnaround time and to apply on time. Demand for passports is, as I have said, increasing quite dramatically. Due to the Department's vigilant monitoring of passports and proactive management of resources, the passport service is now in a position to meet the forecasted demand for 2025. The Senator mentioned in her opening remarks that the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, spoke about plans to move the passport service in Cork to a new building. To give an update on that, it does at this point sound like this will be ready in the second half of 2026. That is going to give us an opportunity to expand the footprint in Cork as there is need and indeed demand, as the Senator outlined. That investment shows the Government’s commitment to providing Cork with a world-class passport service. I hope that timeframe is welcome news for the Senator and Councillor Rory Cocking.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. I understand the Minister of State is staying with us for the next two Commencement matters. I thank her very much for her time.