Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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254. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications that are currently outstanding for persons residing in County Limerick in tabular form. [25502/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in tabular form below.

The table breaks down the number of applications from County Limerick that are currently being processed by the Passport Service and the number of applications that require further action from the applicant, such as the submission of additional documentation.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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256. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of staff working in the passport offices section in his Department by grade, full-time, part-time and sections and number of staff assigned to each section. [25525/22]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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257. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will review the way in which the manual process of checking passport applications is conducted in view of the fact that errors are only being notified to applicants late in the process. [25526/22]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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258. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of representations made by each Deputy to him in respect of passport applications via the minister@DFA and HQ email addresses in 2021 and to date in 2022; and the number of phone calls to the telephone line for Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas that have been processed in 2021 and to date in 2022. [25527/22]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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259. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications that are currently being processed. [25528/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 256, 257, 258 and 259 together.

There are currently 705 staff in the Passport Service. Of these, 616 are full-time staff and 89 are part-time.

There are currently over 360 staff assigned to the Passport Office in Balbriggan, over 120 staff assigned to the Passport Office in Cork and over 220 staff assigned to the Passport Office in Mount St, Dublin 2. Staff can be reassigned to different sections depending on the business needs of the Passport Service. Due to these internal reassignments, as well as promotions, resignations, retirements and mobility transfers, the number of staff in any one section can be fluid.

The numbers of Passport staff by grade are outlined below in tabular form.

The Passport Service sets turnaround times for each type of passport application based on the average time it is taking the Passport Service to process that type of application. Processing time starts from when the Passport Service receives the required supporting documentation for the application. The turnaround times are based on fully complete and correct applications. Applications that are incomplete cannot be processed within the average turnaround times. In cases where applicants are requested to submit further supporting documents, these applications are prioritised once the additional documents are received and they are processed within 15 working days.

The Passport Service continues to examine areas to increase internal efficiencies and improve the customer experience through the Passport Reform Programme. Over the next three years, a number of internal changes and upgrades to the technology that underpins passport operations will take place. The central project of the passport reform programme is the replacement of the current processing system with new, enhanced, core technology that will bring greater resilience, agility and capacity to passport processing systems. In advance of the new processing system coming into operation, a series of enhancements will also be made to the online application system. These enhancements will aim to assist customers applying for their passports by providing them with a list of documents required specific to their application type which will assist in reducing application errors.

There were 12,464 Ministerial representations made in respect of passport applications in 2021, and 5,489 made in January-April 2022. The Passport Service does not maintain records of how many representations are made by Members of the Oireachtas.

The dedicated Oireachtas phone line in the Passport Service was set up in October 2021. The phone line handled 2,703 calls during October-December 2021. The phone line handled 6,160 calls during January-April 2022. The total number of queries handled on these calls to date in 2022 was 10,194.

There are currently 195,000 passport applications in the Passport Service system. While there is a very high volume of applications in the system, this does not represent a backlog. These applications are all being processed in the usual way, with a continuous stream of new applications and a continuous dispatch of completed passports happening every day. 61% of the applications in the system are fully complete applications being processed by the Passport Service. The other 39% 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, their experience is that many applicants take weeks and sometimes months to send in the necessary documents.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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260. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the issues that his Department is encountering with the provision of first-time passports; and the number waiting for passports by county and by country in tabular form. [25544/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service is proactively managing the current demand for passports, particularly first time passports, and has put in place resources and structures to address the estimated significant increase in demand for passports in 2022 in this essential citizen service.

Since March of this year, the Passport Service has reduced the processing time for first time applications from 40 working days to 30 working days. This 25% reduction in processing time is as a direct result of the unprecedented level of investment that my Department has made in the Passport Service in terms of additional staff and improvements to the passport processing and customer service systems.

Over 460,000 passports have been issued to date in 2022, compared to a total of 634,000 passports issued in 2021. 117,000 passports were issued in April alone with 45% of adult renewal passports being issued within one to two working days.

Passport Service figures show that of the total number of passport applications in the system, 61% are fully complete and are being processed by the Passport Service. The other 39% of applications 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, their experience is that many applicants take weeks and sometimes months to send in the necessary documents. Applications that are incomplete cannot be processed within the average turnaround times.

First-time passport applications take longer to process than renewal applications and there are a number of reasons for this. First-time applications are necessarily complex to process, since, in many cases, they are applications for Irish citizenship. The passport service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm his or her entitlement to 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 first-time 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 and extra measures undertaken by highly trained and experienced staff, first-time applications take 30 working days to process.

The biggest cause of delays for first time applications is where incorrect or insufficient supporting documentation is submitted by the applicant. The Passport Service encourages applicants to check the requirements for their type of application carefully on my Department's website. The recently updated website includes a new Passport Service section where applicants can easily find out what additional documents are required for their type of application. The Passport Service is also working on public education materials, including video tutorials, with a view to assisting applicants to complete their application correctly. These videos will be shared on social media and will include instructions on submitting consent forms for child applications properly.

The Passport Service is taking a number of additional steps to deal with increased demand on its services:

- The Passport Service has a comprehensive plan to ensure that adequate staff, accommodation and technology supports are in place to meet expected demand for passports in 2022.

- A major recruitment drive has been underway over the past several months, which has seen the number of Passport Service staff increase by over 300 since June 2021.

- The Passport Service is currently running its own recruitment competition for Temporary Clerical Officers. This recruitment effort will bring staffing numbers to over 900, which represents a doubling of staff compared to June 2021.

- Intensive training of new staff and upskilling of existing staff is underway to increase the resources that can process complex applications, such as first time child applications.

- The Passport Service is prioritising first time applications and directing increased resources to processing these complex applications with a view to reducing the current turnaround time. Passport Service staff are working targeted overtime in this regard.

- The Urgent Appointment Service is available for customers who wish to renew their passport at short notice. Customers availing of this service can renew their passport within 1 or 4 days in Dublin, within 4 days in Cork and within 5 days in London.

- In February, the Passport Service increased the number of appointments at its public offices by 100%, providing an extra 170 Urgent Appointments per week.

- A new document management system was put in place at the beginning of March. This aims to improve the processing speed in the Passport Service offices, and subsequent turnaround times for the applicant. One particular feature of the new system improves the processing time for applicants who have been asked to submit additional documents. Once the additional documents are received, they are being prioritised and complete applications can then be processed in 3 weeks. This significantly reduces the processing time, particularly for first time applicants.

- Public information media campaigns reminding citizens to check and renew their passports will continue during this busy year.

I am confident that the measures that have been implemented will help to reduce passport turnaround times in the course of 2022, particularly for first time applications, and will assist the Passport Service in meeting the high demand forecast for this year.

I strongly urge anyone who is considering travelling overseas this year, particularly families with young children, to check the validity of their passports before booking travel and to apply for their passports online in plenty of time.

The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in tabular form below:

County	Total applications in system	Being processed by Passport Service	Awaiting further action by applicant
Antrim	6,123	3,541	2,582
Armagh	1,530	959	571
Carlow	486	244	242
Cavan	556	264	292
Clare	749	387	362
Cork	3,691	1,948	1,743
Derry	2,269	1,362	907
Donegal	1,102	579	523
Down	4,593	2,712	1,881
Dublin	9,253	4,850	4,403
Fermanagh	447	280	167
Galway	1,920	994	926
Kerry	892	471	421
Kildare	1,660	913	747
Kilkenny	648	327	321
Laois	582	317	265
Leitrim	222	123	99
Limerick	1,288	698	590
Longford	279	132	147
Louth	1,010	518	492
Mayo	888	484	404
Meath	1,545	821	724
Monaghan	450	242	208
Offaly	507	279	228
Roscommon	396	210	186
Sligo	446	230	216
Tipperary	1,040	570	470
Tyrone	1,706	1,019	687
Waterford	850	467	383
Westmeath	686	381	305
Wexford	1,106	553	553
Wicklow	1,059	569	490