Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

92. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if extra resources will be allocated to the Passport Office to clear the backlog in applications and answer applicants' queries promptly in view of the fact that it is the holiday season; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27911/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Passport Service is currently in peak season with the vast majority of applications being received between February and August each year. Over 500,000 applications have been received so far this year. Applications received in the first 5 months of this year have increased by over 8% compared with the same time period last year.The Passport Service offers a variety of channels through which citizens can apply for a passport and the choice of channel determines the turnaround period of applications. The quickest and easiest way for an adult to renew a passport is to apply online. Over 50% of the 100,000 applicants who have used this channel this year, have got their passport back within a week and all have the passport issued within the advertised 2 week timeframe.The largest proportion of applications, almost 50%, are still made via the Passport Express channel. Adult and children renewals are given a target turnaround time of 15 working days and this timeframe is being met. First time applicants, and those with lost or stolen passport are taking longer. These applications require additional security measures including robust identity verification and entitlement checking, and as a result, take longer to process. In cases where other family member have submitted renewal applications alongside the first time application, all applications are linked in the system and can only be dealt with once the necessary checks have been completed on the first time application.

The Passport Service monitors the volume of applications on an ongoing basis to ensure that resources are available to meet demand.In order to respond to anticipated application increases and to seasonal demands, the Passport Service received sanction for 220 Temporary Clerical Officers (TCOs) this year to be appointed to the Passport Offices in Dublin and Cork. These TCOs are working together with permanent staff to process passport applications and to deal with the high number of enquiries being made through the Passport Service’s various customer service channels.

The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff permanently employed by my Department and assigned to the Passport Service stood at 322 at the beginning of the year. This compares to 301 FTE staff assigned to the Passport Service at the same point last year. This year, since these figures were released, over 30 additional permanent staff have started with the Passport Service.

The Passport Service is doing everything possible to ensure that passports are processed as quickly as possible. In addition to the intake of TCOs and use of targeted overtime, experienced staff from across the Department have been re-deployed to processing applications and respond to customer queries.

The high number of queries being received from applicants is in line with the increasing volume of applications being received. The Passport Service makes every effort to respond to as many queries as possible. In the week of June 11 the Passport Services dealt with over 9,500 of these queries. In recent weeks the Passport Service has allocated additional resources to the existing Communications Unit to respond to customer queries on phones, email and webchat. Measures taken include the temporary redeployment of existing Department staff and the assignment of temporary clerical officers to the communications unit.

Many queries received by the communications unit can be answered with information readily available on the Passport Service’s website www.DFA.ie/passport. Detailed and regularly updated information on passport services; current average turnaround times and comprehensive guides to the various application processes can be consulted here. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight that applicants can track the status of existing applications at any time through the Passport Service’s online tracker which can also be found on the Passport Service’s website. The Passport Service also has a Customer Care desk in the public offices (Mount Street, Dublin and Cork) where applicants can visit without an appointment to obtain an update on their application.

The continuous implementation of service improvements has been central to my Department’s response to increasing application volumes. The Passport Reform Programme is delivering major upgrades to the passport service technology platforms and business processes as well as significant customer service improvements. The online passport application service will continue to make a major contribution to the effective management of high application volumes by allowing existing staff and resources to be more effectively deployed within the Passport Service.