Written answers

Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Passport Services

Photo of Michael McNamaraMichael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

102. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason the processing of passports was not deemed to be an essential service given that the right to leave a state including one's own is enshrined in international law and the possession of a valid passport is an essential prerequisite for the exercise of that right; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24205/21]

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

Throughout the pandemic the Passport Service provided an emergency passport service to citizens. The range of emergency and urgent personal reasons in which travel by citizens is permitted is provided for on a statutory basis, originally in S.I. No. 29/2021 - Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021 and now in S.I. No. 168/1921. These are as follows:

- To apply for college or school; if parent has to be there in person or accompany a child; to participate in an exchange programme; take exams

- To work or travel related to your business

- To attend/access essential medical, health or dental appointment/services, or to go to an appointment with someone you live with, or a vulnerable person

- To apply for a mortgage or bank account; to access public services; for security reasons as advised by An Garda Síochána

- To care for a family member who is seriously ill or for other vital family reasons

- To attend the funeral of an immediate family member

- To meet a legal obligation (for example, to appear in court)

- To give access to a child to the other parent of the child, or to access a child that you have a right of access to

- To relocate from or to Ireland (plus family members)

During Level 5 restrictions, the Passport Service processed more than 40,000 or just over one third of the total number of applications received this year, comprising of approximately 3,000 in response to urgent requests and 37,000 non-urgent applications for adults renewing their passport. Customer Service Information was also provided to over 40,000 citizens via our Webchat service during this time.

In the context of the Government’s “COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The Plan Ahead” I decided that it was appropriate explicitly to designate the Passport Service as an essential service within the framework of S.I. No. 168/2021 - Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2021. This will facilitate the scaling up of operations to more normal levels and informs our citizens that the Passport Service is ready to meet current and future demand. The Government noted my decision on 29 April 2021.

Our goal is to process all passport applications on hand by the end of June 2021 and to ensure we have the capacity for high levels of anticipated demand for passport applications, were current travel restrictions to ease. The Passport Service has always seen a year on year increase in the number of passports applied for, peaking in 2019 when approximately 935,000 passports were issued. Demand declined in 2020 to 445,000 and this is directly attributable to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions.

Similar reduced demand has also been seen so far this year. The consequence of the reduced number of passports issued in 2020 and to date in 2021 will mean there is pent up demand. For example, the percentage of expired passport which were not renewed in 2020 stood at 53% whereas in 2019 this was a far lower number at 23%. At present, there are approximately 99,000 Passport Online applications in the system. I am confident, taking into account measures to ensure a safe workplace, that these applications can be processed in six to eight weeks.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.