Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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333. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide a schedule of the time backlog on all accepted first-time passport applications; how these timelines compare with those from February 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8192/23]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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334. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications currently being processed; how that figure compares with February 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8193/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 333 and 334 together.

2022 was an exceptionally busy year for the Passport Service, with over 1,085,000 passports issued.

2023 is set to be a similarly busy year, with demand forecasts showing that just under 1.1 million passports are projected to be issued again.

Thanks to significant investment by the Government and the dedicated work of the Passport Service staff, substantial improvements were made in 2022 following disruptions to the service during the pandemic.

Over the past few months my Department has been planning to ensure that demand for passports continues to be met in 2023 with target processing times maintained throughout the year.

My Department is currently rolling out a Digital First media and communications campaign for the Passport Service for 2023. The campaign aims to encourage citizens to check their passport before booking travel, and to apply for their passport online and in plenty of time.

This campaign began in December, with digital, print and social media advertisements. Radio advertisements commenced last month, followed by outdoor advertising in February.

All ads will remind citizens to check the validity of their passports before booking travel. The first few weeks of the campaign saw a 245% increase in traffic to the Passport Service website, compared to the weeks preceding the campaign.

The Passport Service is in an excellent position to meet the demand forecast for 2023. All turnaround times are at their target level and there are no backlogs. The majority of online adult renewal applications are being processed in 3 working days or less. 100% of customers who call the Passport Service are getting through each day.

The current turnaround for first time online applications is 20 working days. In February 2022, this turnaround time was 40 working days. Turnaround time begins from the date the Passport Service receives the supporting documents, not the date the application is made online. Turnaround times apply to fully complete applications with all required supporting documentation submitted. Applications that require further supporting documents can take longer.

The turnaround time for all paper applications, for first time or renewals, is 8 weeks. Due to the limitations of the paper processing system it is not possible to breakdown the number of paper applications in the system into first time applications and renewals. I can confirm however that there is no backlog of paper applications.

A comparison of passport applications between February 14 2022 and February 16 2023 is outlined below in tabular form. This table breaks the applications down into those with the Passport Service for processing, and those awaiting further action by the applicant. The table also shows figures for first time applications, and figures for the number of applications received in each year from 1 January to 14 and 16 February respectively.