Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

781. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passports currently awaiting processing in Cork; and if consideration has been given to printing passports in Cork. [20914/22]

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

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, respectively. Passport applications from all citizens - whether at home or abroad - are distributed for processing across the three Passport Offices, on the basis of the type of application rather than county or country of residence of the applicant.

The Passport Office in Cork primarily processes domestic paper-based as well as non-domestic online applications.  An Urgent Appointment Service is also available at the Passport Office in Cork for applicants who need to travel within four working days.  It can also facilitate the issuance on the spot of an emergency passport where there is an urgent need to travel for medical reasons or due to a bereavement abroad.

There are currently 48,000 applications in the system at the Passport Office in Cork. Of these, 25,000 (52%) have been fully completed by the applicant and are being processed by the Passport Service. The other 23,000 (48%) are incomplete, which means the Passport Service is waiting for the applicant to submit the necessary documentation required. While the Passport Service makes every effort to contact applicants in such circumstances, it is often the case that many applicants take weeks and sometimes months to send in the necessary documents.  The Passport Service cannot process incomplete applications until such time as all documentation has been received.  

The Passport Service 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. 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 the current and anticipated future demand for passports.

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

With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the Passport Service has issued a passport to the applicant, and all supporting documents have been returned.