Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

42. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of each category of Irish passports issued to date in 2023, for example, adult renewal, child renewal and so on. [29925/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Passport Service is successfully meeting the current high demand for passports, and has issued over 545,000 passports to date in 2023. All turnaround times are at their target level, and the Customer Service Hub is responding to an average of 15,000 queries per week. Over half of all simple adult online renewals are processed within 2 working days.

Passport Online is by far the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to apply for a passport. Through Passport Online, citizens also have the option of applying for a passport card, which is valid for travel in the EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK.

The number of passports issued to date in 2023 is outlined below in tabular form, broken down into adult and child renewals and adult and child first time applications.