Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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26. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a Passport Office will be established in Ulster in view of the substantial increase in passport applications from that area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48920/22]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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50. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reviews that have taken place within the Passport Office in terms of increasing capacity with the potential of opening a new passport office on the island; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49014/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 26 and 50 together.

The Passport Service has issued over 940,000 passports to date this year and 2022 will be the first year ever that over 1 million passports will be issued. The Passport Service is currently out-performing its previous busiest year (2019) by 17%.

Thanks to significant investment by the Government, substantial improvements have been made this year and normal pre-Covid levels of service have resumed.

Turnaround times for online First Time Applications have halved from 40 working days in March of this year to 20 working days.

84% of online adult renewal applications are being processed in 3 working days or less.

Demand for passports from all counties of Ulster remains steady. Applications from Northern Ireland are on average 11,000 applications per month or 10% of all applications. This year to date, 87% of applicants from Northern Ireland have applied through Passport Online.

The Passport Service is pursuing a Digital First strategy and promoting Passport Online as the quickest, most convenient and least expensive channel for applicants. This has allowed for the centralisation of passport processing resulting in greater efficiencies for the Service and for customers. The majority of Passport Service operations take place at the newly expanded Balbriggan Campus that now has capacity for 500 staff.

Passport Online is available to 97% of applicants around the world regardless of whether they are first time applicants or are renewing their passport. Passport Online has been hugely successful and over 90% of applicants from around the world now apply for their passport online. This has significantly reduced the number of applicants who need to visit the Post Office or the Passport Offices in Dublin or Cork to apply for their passport.

Currently, 100% of calls to the Customer Service Hub are being answered and customers can easily access the information they need through the Hub. In addition, my Department is implementing a staffing plan to ensure that excellent customer service is maintained during periods of peak demand.

The Passport Service continuously considers ways to improve its service to all of our citizens.

The public offices of the Passport Service in Dublin 2 and in Cork operate a four day urgent appointment service for renewal applicants. The Dublin office also offers a one day urgent appointment service. Recent figures for the Urgent Appointment Service show that just 28% of these appointments are being availed of. Currently, about 1% of all passport applications are processed through the public offices in Dublin and Cork.

Any expansion of services would need to review the potential demand for an in-person urgent appointment service given the efficiencies built-in to Passport Online and in light of the fact that 84% of online adult renewal applications are currently being processed in 3 working days.

The Passport Service continuously reviews the range of services it offers while also strategically planning to respond to the future needs of the Service. In considering any expansion of existing services, a number of criteria are examined including the efficiencies that would be gained, whether the proposed expansion would improve the overall quality of the service and whether the potential benefits of expanding the service would justify the significant costs involved. Any proposed expansion would also need to complement the Passport Service's Digital First strategy.