Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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386. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications processed in 2020; the average turnaround time for an application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24245/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In 2020, the Passport Service issued approximately 450,000 passports. Outside the period of the highest restrictions, the Passport Service met the target turnaround times for Passport Online applications. This is 5 working days for simple applications and 10 working days for complex applications, once the supporting documentation has been received and 20 days for first time applicants.

The Passport Service scaled up to more normal operational levels on 4 May 2021, in line with the phased easing of restrictions set out in “COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The Plan Ahead”.

The Passport Service has a great deal of experience in dealing with peaks in demand, and we believe that we are well-placed to ensure that those applications on hand will be processed within 6-8 weeks and that turnaround times will be achieved later in the summer.

Passport Online can be accessed by first time applicants, both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. All Irish citizens, including children, can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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388. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the level of staffing at the passport office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24247/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service is composed of three constituent offices located in Mount Street, Dublin, Balbriggan, County Dublin and South Mall, Cork. The total number of staff employed across all offices of the Passport Service is approximately 460.

To assist with the wider State response to COVID-19, Passport Service personnel have been redeployed, at the request of different Departments, into other, essential public service roles, such as contact tracing for the HSE, assisting the Department of Social Protection to facilitate the processing of COVID-19 related benefits, providing consular assistance to Irish citizens overseas and assisting the Department of Health.

The Passport Service scaled up to more normal operational levels on 4 May 2021, in line with the phased easing of restrictions set out in “COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The Plan Ahead”.

Passport Online can be accessed by first time applicants, both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. All Irish citizens, including children, can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world.

The Passport Service has a great deal of experience in dealing with peaks in demand, and we are confident, taking into account measures to ensure a safe workplace, that the Passport Online applications on hand can be cleared in six to eight weeks.