Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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648. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passports in the backlog waiting to be issued (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30605/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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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”.

Since scaling up to more normal operational levels on 4 May 2021, the Customer Service Hub has responded to more than 25,000 enquiries by telephone and WebChat.

Substantial progress has been made on clearing the COVID-19 passport backlog and 52 per cent of it has been cleared. At the moment most online routine adult renewals are being processed in 10 days. In total, the Passport Service has issued more than 96,000 passports in May 2021 and is on track to clear the entire backlog by the end of June.

The Passport Service is maintaining its emergency service. The telephone number for the Customer Service Hub is 01 671 1633 and WebChat can be accessed through the Passport Service's website.