Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 443: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that calls to the customer care inquiry lines (details supplied) to which the public are directed to address departmental queries go unanswered; the reason one of these lines has no voicemail; the staffing levels assigned to these customer care inquiry lines; if they are providing the level of customer care services service provided for in his Department's mission statement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10478/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I assure the Deputy that I am committed to providing a quality passport service to the public which includes having telephone inquiries dealt with quickly by friendly, experienced and helpful staff.

The Passport Office has 19 staff in its customer care and telephone helpline sections. The office has 15 external lines which are manned between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. A 24-hour recorded information service is also provided. As the Deputy will appreciate, the volume of calls varies from time to time and, at peak periods, customers may experience some delays in getting through by telephone. In response to this, the Passport Office redeploys staff from other areas to its customer care and telephone helpline sections whenever required.

The telephone numbers to which the Deputy refers are Passport Office staff internal lines. It is departmental policy to have voice mail on officers' internal lines. In the case of the single extension to which the Deputy refers as not having voice mail, there was a problem with this line which has now been corrected.

In general, I am satisfied that the service provided by the Passport Office meets the standard set out in the Department's mission statement which commits it to providing a modern and efficient passport service. There have been some exceptional problems in the recent past associated with the implementation of a new passport system and these have had an impact on the accessibility of the customer care and telephone helpline sections. However, these problems are being actively resolved and, when the new system is fully operational, I am confident that there will be an improved service to the public.

Demand for passports has almost doubled since 1997 with over 500,000 passports being issued here in Ireland for the first time last year. This has necessitated a complete upgrade of the systems and operations in the Passport Office. The new system, which is currently being implemented, incorporates the most advanced technologies for producing passports and will give Ireland one of the most secure passports in the world. The new system commenced operation here in Ireland last December and is being extended to our overseas missions on a phased basis throughout the remainder of this year.

To assist passport applicants, passport information is available in a number of ways in addition to telephoning the Passport Office. Passport application forms are available from the Passport Office, all Garda stations and most post offices. The application form itself contains a four-page explanatory notice which provides section by section advice to assist applicants when completing the form. The Passport Office website, www.passport.ie, also provides additional information on how to obtain a passport as well as on how to avoid the most common mistakes made with passport applications.