Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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173. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the target and actual turnaround time for passport applications across all passport services in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13231/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Turnaround times for passport applications in Ireland are outlined in the following tables:

Information on turnaround times for passport applications is updated weekly on the Passport Service website, www.dfa.ie/passport.The highest proportion of applications are submitted through the Passport Express postal channel. The average turnaround time for renewal applications submitted through An Post Passport Express currently stands at 16 working days. Applications in other categories, such as first time applicants or those involving lost or stolen passports, take longer as additional checks are undertaken.

The award winning online passport application service, which was launched in March last year, allows adult citizens to renew their passports online from anywhere in the world without any paperwork or witnesses. The target turnaround time for online passport application service is 10 working days plus postage time. The majority of online applications are currently being processed within 7 working days, well ahead of target. As more applicants avail of the service, the efficiency gains will help improve turnaround times more broadly.

The Passport Service operates a counter service in both the Dublin (Mount Street) and Cork offices where applicants who need their passport application processed in timeframes shorter than those offered by the Passport Express and online facility can be accommodated in certain circumstances. Appointments for this counter service can be booked online at www.passportappointments.ie.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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174. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications received to date in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13232/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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From 1 January – 14 March, the Passport Service received over 198,000 applications in total, an increase of 7% on the same period last year.

The Passport Service is working hard to minimise the impact of high application volumes on turnaround times and continues to closely monitor the level of passport demand to ensure that all resources, including staffing, are effectively deployed.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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175. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications received from Britain and Northern Ireland in each of the years 2012 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13233/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Tracking of passport applications is in general carried out against channel of application rather than by other metrics, including country of origin. Bearing this in mind, the following general breakdown of applications will give the available detail on numbers of passport applications received from Northern Ireland and Great Britain for 2012 to 2017 and in 2018 to date:

*Adjusted end of year figure takes in to account returns (applications that have been resubmitted to the Passport Service) and represents settled figures for end of year.

**1 Jan. – 14 Mar. 2018 only