Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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9. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts in place to rectify the fault with the passport tracker that has not provided updates since 9 May; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23595/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently in the busiest season of the year for processing passport applications, as citizens prepare for their upcoming summer travel plans. Thanks to operational and staffing plans implemented by the Department, the Passport Service is successfully responding to the current high demand, and has issued over 420,000 passports to date this year. All turnaround times are at their target level and there are no backlogs. The Customer Service Hub is responding to over 3,000 queries per day.

Passport applicants can track the status of their passport application online via the Passport Tracker which is available on this website - www.dfa.ie/passporttracking/. The information available on the tracker is an excellent guide as to where an application is in the system.

The tracker provides applicants with an indication of how their application is progressing through the system and gives an estimated issue date based on the current average application processing time. The tracker updates applications intermittently throughout the day where these applications have progressed.

Last week, the tracker experienced an issue which caused a delay in the updating of information on some applications.  This issue was resolved on 12 May and the tracker is now operating as normal.  This issue has not caused a delay in the processing of applications which continue to issue on time.  The Passport Service regrets any inconvenience caused to customers. 

I strongly encourage Deputies to advise their constituents of the benefits of applying for their passport online and to check their passports before booking travel. Passport Online is by far the quickest and cheapest way to apply for a passport, and is now used by over 90% of citizens worldwide.  I can assure the Deputy that the Passport Service is continuing to work to provide further improvements and efficiencies for customers.