Written answers

Wednesday, 17 November 2021

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Passport Services

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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94. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of staff that have returned to the offices of the Passport Office since August 2021; the exact number of persons who are actually working in the offices as of 11 November 2021; the number of persons who work from home as of 11 November 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56209/21]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The number of staff working in the Passport Service as of 11 November 2021 is 557.

All Passport Service processing and operations teams are working on site to produce passports. This represents 99% of total staff, allocated to core functions such as customer service; validation and checking; production and dispatch of passports. So far this year, the production and operations teams have delivered over 500,000 passports. On site work began to scale up in earnest from May 4 when Government sanctioned the phased easing of COVID-19 restrictions. A small number of Passport Service staff across administrative, policy or the Passport Reform project may work from home, in line with my Department's current policy that staff attend the office at least one day per week.

My Department attaches the highest priority to ensuring that the Passport Service is resourced to respond to current and anticipated. My Department is actively working with the Public Appointments Service to recruit and assign additional staff to meet the current and forecasted high demand for passports. We are planning for the recruitment and assignment of additional permanent and temporary staff between now and the end of January 2022, bringing total staff numbers to 920 and effectively doubling the number of staff at the Passport Service since June of this year.

The Passport Service is working with relevant divisions within my Department to ensure the health and safety of all staff is prioritised alongside the business need to serve our citizens. Plans are at finalisation stage thanks to excellent co-operation from the Office of Public Works to ensure that additional staff will be accommodated to meet the anticipated unprecedented demand for passports in 2022.

Photo of Colm BurkeColm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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95. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport express applications which have been processed and issued since the resumption of the service on 19 July 2021 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56240/21]

Photo of Colm BurkeColm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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96. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport express applications processed and issued in 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56241/21]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 96 together.

My Department fully recognises that Passport Express, and Northern Ireland Passport Express, continue to be an important channel for applicants who do not wish to use the online system or who do not have access to online services.

The Passport Express channel was created in partnership with An Post’s Swiftpost option to provide customers with a passport application option through their local Post Office. In line with the continued scaling up of Passport Services, the Passport Express service resumed on 19 July 2021.

The current turnaround times for Passport Online is 10 working days for Simple Adult renewals, 15 working days for Complex renewals and 40 working days for First Time Applications. The current turnaround time for Passport Express applications which have been completed correctly is 40 working days. Prior to the pandemic the turnaround time for Passport Express was 6-8 weeks for all application types. The most complex online applications at that time had a turnaround time of 4 weeks.

Below is a table outlining the number of passports issued through the Passport Express service since 2019. Demand for the Passport Express service has fallen significantly since 2019 as more applicants choose the Passport Online service to benefit from the faster turnaround times available through this efficient online service. Over 90% of passport applicants choose the Passport Online service and it offers several efficiencies to both the customer and the Passport Service. The processing of an online application is consistently up to four times faster than the processing time of a paper application.

Adequate staffing of the Passport Service to respond to demand remains a priority for my Department and is an issue that is kept under constant review. My Department is actively working with the Public Appointments Service to recruit and assign additional staff to meet the current and forecasted high demand for passports. Additional permanent and temporary officers will be assigned between now and the end of January 2022, bringing total staff numbers to 920 and effectively doubling the number of staff at the Passport Service since June of this year. The assignment of additional staff currently underway will help to improve customer experience and application processing times, including applications received through the Passport Express Service.

In the context of the National Development Plan, my Department is making a major investment in the future of the Passport Service. Over the next couple of years, we will replace the core technology underpinning the service, which will deliver efficiencies and a more resilient passport system. Budget 2022 also included an investment of an additional €10m in passport services in response to the increasing demand for passports both at home and abroad.

The Emergency Passport service remains available in cases of medical emergency or death of a family member abroad. In addition, the Passport Offices in Mount St, Dublin 2 and in Cork are now offering an Urgent Appointment Service for the renewal of passports. To avail of the Urgent Appointment Service for Passport Renewal, applicants can book an appointment through the Department of Foreign Affairs website (www.dfa.ie/passports). Over 800 urgent appointments have been facilitated since the Passport Service launched this service on 27th September 2021.

Passport Online can be accessed by all first time applicants, irrespective of age 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.

Year Passports issued through Passport Express
2019 198,163
2020 42,275
Since 19 July 2021 to date 6,480
2021 Total to date 6,498

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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97. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the current backlog on new passport applications; the backlog on renewals; and if consideration is being given to purchasing an additional printing machine to base it in County Cork. [56268/21]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service has issued over half a million passports to date in 2021 and 45% of simple adult renewals issue within one business day.

The current passport processing times are:

- 10 working days for Simple Adult renewals

- 15 working days for Complex renewals

- 40 working days for First Time Applications on Passport Online

- 8 weeks for An Post’s mail-in “Passport Express” service

Passport processing times are based on current average application turnaround times and apply to passport applications that are fully complete, where all required supporting documentation has been correctly submitted to the Passport Service by the applicant. The projected passport issue date provided to applicants on the online Passport Tracker provides an indication only of the estimated issue date based on current averages and is not an intended guarantee of service.

Applications can take longer than the average turnaround time if applicants have not provided all of the required documentation to correctly complete their application. There are currently 110,000 passport applications on hand at the Passport Service. Of the online applications on hand, 34,000 or 35% of applications are incomplete and require the applicant to submit additional documents. The Passport Service engages with all applicants who have not submitted the required documentation to ensure that their application is completed correctly and can proceed through the processing system. Of the online applications that are currently with the Passport Service for processing, approximately 8% are past the estimated issue-by date. These applications are being prioritised by the Passport Service who are working very hard to eliminate these delays.

The Passport Service is currently experiencing a high demand for first time passports. Of the 110,000 passport applications currently on hand, 70,000 (63%) are first time applications. These first time applications are necessarily complex to process, since they are essentially applications for Irish citizenship. It is the statutory responsibility of the Passport Service to protect the integrity of the Irish passport. Accordingly, a rigorous analysis process is in place to verify the identity and citizenship status of applicants. In the case of first time passport applications for children, the consent of guardians must also be thoroughly validated. Due to the intensive analysis underpinning first time online passport application processing it takes 40 working days.

The Passport Service of my Department is a unified service composed of three constituent offices located in Lower Mount Street and Balbriggan in Dublin and South Mall in Cork. It operates three passport printing machines, two of which are located in the main production facility in Balbriggan and the third in the Passport Office in Lower Mount Street, Dublin.

Passport applications from citizens residing in Ireland or elsewhere in the world are distributed for processing across the three Passport Offices. All passport applications are processed through the centralised automated passport service system. All production facilities can print a passport, irrespective of the channel through which the application is processed. The printing system allows for flexibility between printing machines if any one machine has reached capacity. Each passport printer has a printing capacity of 250 passports per hour.

I am satisfied that the printing capacity of production equipment currently employed by the Passport Service is sufficient to meet demand.

Photo of Thomas GouldThomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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98. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of persons currently waiting on a passport in Cork city and county, by incremental time periods, in tabular form. [56362/21]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There are currently 5,874 passport applications from Cork with the Passport Service.While we cannot set out the applications from Cork that were on hand on previous dates or periods as requested by the Deputy, the table beneath summarises the applications by type - Adult and Child first time applications and Adult and Child renewal applications.

The current turnaround times are:

- 10 working days for Simple Adult renewals

- 15 working days for Complex renewals

- 40 working days for First Time Applications on Passport Online

- 8 weeks for An Post's mail-in "Passport Express" service

Processing times are based on current average application turnaround times and apply to passport applications that are fully complete, where all required supporting documentation has been correctly submitted to the Passport Service by the applicant. The projected passport issue date provided to applicants on the online Passport Tracker provides an indication only of the estimated issue date based on current averages and is not an intended guarantee of service.

I urge citizens to check the validity of their passports before booking travel and to ensure that they apply in plenty of time in order to have their passport well in advance of their travel date. In the case of people planning to travel in 2022, whose passports are already out of date or who have children who are first-time applicants, I would encourage them to apply now online.

The Passport Online service continues to be the fastest and most efficient channel for passport applications and is available to 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.

Passport Applications originating from Cork Applications Totals
Child First Time Applications 1,831
Adult First Time Applications 691
Total First Time Applications 2,522
Adult Renewal Applications 1,381
Child Renewal Application 1,971
Total Renewal Applications 3,352
Overall Total 5,874

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