Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

358. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the operational staffing numbers for the Passport Office on a monthly basis from January 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43501/21]

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

The Passport Service maintained operations throughout the pandemic, notwithstanding the fact that the processing of passports requires physical attendance on site to deliver this service. As a result of well implemented safety protocols during the pandemic, our staff were able to assist citizens who required passports for a range of emergency and urgent personal, business or legal reasons, or who had compelling humanitarian needs to travel.

To assist with the wider State response to COVID-19, Passport Service personnel were 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 Public Appointments Service.

The Passport Service scaled up 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 engages in robust workforce planning on an annual basis in cooperation with the Public Appointments Service. The Passport Service must remain in full compliance with the Work Safely Protocol which sets out obligations for employers and workers to put Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

The total number of Passport Service staff by month from January 2020 to August 2021 is set out in tabular form below.