John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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55. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if consideration has been given to an improved passport renewal reminder system at which there is an automatic renewal reminder opt-in with an optional opt-out in view of the recent delays at the Passport Office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27905/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service already has a system for reminding passport holders that their passport is due for renewal. Passport holders must first enter their passport details on https://www.eforms.gov.ie/en/reminder/passport/ and they will be sent a reminder three months prior to the expiry date of the passport.Passport renewals for all categories of applicants seeking to renew a passport in Ireland are currently being processed within targeted processing times. Applicants using the online renewal service are currently being processed within 10 working days, with 50% of applications processed within 5 working days. Renewal applications submitted through Passport Express or the Northern Ireland Passport Express service are processed within the target turnaround period of 15 working days.Other categories of applicants, such as first time applicants and applicants whose previous passport was reported as lost or stolen are currently taking longer as these require additional security checks, including robust identity verification and entitlement checking and as a result take longer to process.