Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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119. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a child passport will issue on time for a child (details supplied) in County Donegal travelling on 8th June 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28419/22]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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123. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will ensure that a passport application for a child (details supplied) will be processed by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28450/22]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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125. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will request that a passport application by a person (details supplied) is expedited given that the delay has been caused due to an error in the Garda station when singing as a witness and not due to the fault of the applicant or their guardians. [28495/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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134. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of a passport application for a child (details supplied) given that it has exceeded the target issue date and the date of travel is imminent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28519/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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135. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of a passport application for a child (details supplied) given that it has exceeded the target issue date and the date of travel is imminent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28520/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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137. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of a passport application of a person (details supplied) given that the date of travel is imminent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28523/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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138. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of a passport application of a person (details supplied) given that it has exceeded the target issue date and the date of travel is imminent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28524/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 119, 123, 125, 134, 135, 137 and 138 together.

With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputies have enquired, the Passport Service has provided an update on the status of the passport application to the applicant. 

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when a Passport Office will be established in the province of Ulster; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28421/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Passport Service 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 the place of residence of the applicant.

Over 90% of all passport applications, including first time applications, are now being made through Passport Online and Passport Online is available to 97% of all applicants across the world. The Passport Service is committed to continuing to offer a range of application channels, including an offline service for citizens who are not eligible or do not wish to use the Passport Online service.

Passport Online is the priority channel for applications as there are many efficiencies built into the system for both the applicant and the Passport Service. The Passport Online service offers Irish citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is a user-friendly, efficient service that consistently offers processing times up to 4 times faster than paper-based passport renewal applications.

The paper-based, mail-in "Post Passport" service is available to citizens at almost 1,000 An Post post offices. A paper-based, mail-in service is also available at over 70 post office locations in Northern Ireland. The Passport Service continues to see a steady, but increasing demand for passports from citizens in Northern Ireland. With the availability of both Passport Online and the postal application channel, very few applicants are required to travel a significant distance in order to apply for their passport.

In the relatively small number of cases where citizens need to travel urgently and do not have a valid passport, the Passport Offices in Dublin and Cork offer an Urgent Appointment service for passport renewal with a 1 or 4-day turnaround. The Passport Service offices in Dublin and Cork have processed over 5,000 Urgent Appointments to date in 2022. These Urgent Appointment applications represents just 0.9% of the total 540,000 applications received by the Passport Service since January of this year.

I am satisfied overall that the range of service options available meets the current needs of passport applicants and that recent service improvements allow the Passport Service to provide this essential citizen service in an efficient and effective manner. While there are no plans to open additional passport offices, the Passport Service will continue to consider ways in which to enhance customer experience for citizens.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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122. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of staff who are operating the Houses of the Oireachtas passport helpline for elected members; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the number is constantly engaged; his views on whether it is acceptable for elected representatives and their office staff to be expected to make up to 20 queries per day relating to passports (details supplied); if he will ensure that elected members and their staff are not held responsible for failings at the Passport Office with members of the public where he has overall Ministerial responsibility; if he will issue a public announcement to this effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28442/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In October 2021, the Passport Service established a temporary phone line to respond to Oireachtas Members' queries on urgent passport cases.

I appreciate that it can, on occasion, be challenging for Members of the Oireachtas and their staff to access the Oireachtas line given the volume queries that the team are currently handling. Staff on the Oireachtas Line continue to work productively under increasing pressure. They are dealing with record numbers of calls and queries every week and have handled over 12,200 queries from Members since the beginning of this year. Passport Service staff on the Oireachtas Line receive comprehensive general Passport Service training, as well as customer service training.

I am aware that many Deputies are receiving a large number of passport queries from constituents due to the continued high demand for passports. Since last week, the number of staff on the Oireachtas Urgent Query Service team has increased from seven to eleven full time staff. As of last week, up to 20 queries per week from each Oireachtas Member can be facilitated by this team.

In each case raised by an Oireachtas Member, the Passport Service reviews the application in question. However, applications can only be expedited in cases of genuine emergency such as a need for urgent medical treatment overseas or the death of a family member abroad. Such applications are expedited through the Travel Emergency service.

In cases where the estimated issue-by date has passed and all required supporting documents have been submitted, the Passport Service will prioritise the application to ensure that no further delay is experienced.

Non-urgent cases should continue to be dealt with through the existing phone lines and web chat facilities.  Passport applications, that are being processed in line with their turnaround times cannot be expedited.  Where the estimated issue by date has been exceeded this will result in a query being raised internally in the Passport Service. The Passport Service will work to issue a passport or respond to a request for further information to the customer within two working days.

While Deputies often hear of the most complex and pressing cases, the overwhelming majority of passport applicants have their passport processed without any recourse to their local TD. 

The Passport Service is already out-performing any previous year, despite the challenges that it has encountered over the past two years. In 2019, which was the busiest year for passports pre-Covid, the Passport Service had issued 470,000 passports by the end of May. In the same time period this year, over 540,000 passports have been issued. In 2021, 634,000 passports were issued in the whole year. In five months the Passport Service has issued over 80% of the total number of passports that were issued in the whole of last year.

Passport applicants can track the status of their passport application online via the Passport Tracker which is available on my Department's website - www.dfa.ie/passporttracking/. The information on the tracker has recently been upgraded, and is an excellent guide as to where an application is in the system.

I would ask Oireachtas colleagues to ensure that their constituents are aware of the processing times outlined below and encourage them to apply online well in advance of any planned travel. 

The current processing times for passport applications are:

- 10 working days for Simple Adult online renewals

- 15 working days for Complex or child online renewals

- 30 working days for First Time Applications on Passport Online (applications received from 19 April)

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