Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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82. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will review his Department’s operational practice of pushing the target issue date out for a passport submitted online by two weeks, where a new photo is requested by the checker near the end of the checking process; taking on board the fact that the initial passport photo was accepted by the Department’s IT system and the fact that this practice is causing undue hardship for applicants who have a holiday booked and in some cases cannot get monies refunded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21191/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Passport Service has issued 460,000 passports to date this year and is on track to have issued half a million passports by the end of this month.

Virtually all complete passport applications are being processed within advertised turnaround times.

All passport applications require supporting documentation to some degree, whether it is a photo uploaded online for an adult's renewal application, or documents necessary to validate the identity and entitlement to Irish citizenship of a first time applicant. In the cases of children's applications, witnessed identity and consent forms are required to ensure that guardians have consented to the issuance of a passport for the child.

In cases where insufficient or incorrect documents are received by the Passport Service, every effort is made to let the applicant know as soon as possible. Applications enter a queue and are checked in order of date received.

The Passport Service has had a system whereby applications do not go to the back of the queue following a request for further documents. When the Passport Service receives the required additional documentation from the applicant, the application is prioritised for checking.

Online applications for which additional photos are requested are processed within a maximum of 10 working days of the receipt of the new photo. All other requests for further documents are processed within 15 working days of receipt of the additional documents, for both paper and online application types.

The Passport Service has public education materials, including video tutorials on taking a passport photo and detailed instructions on the application process, available online: www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/passports/how-to-apply-for-a-passport. These materials are regularly communicated to citizens via our social media channels.

Additionally, should assistance be required with an application, our Customer Service agents are available through phone and webchat services from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. They can be contacted at +353 1 671 1633, or via the WebChat service: www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/passports/contact-us/#webchat.

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.

Renewal applicants who have already submitted a passport application either through Passport Online or Post Passport can book an urgent appointment and visit the Passport Office to apply for a passport. Once a passport has been issued, their original application will be cancelled and the fee will be refunded.

Further information on the Urgent Appointment service for renewal applicants is available at www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/passports/urgent-appointment/.

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. Passport Online is now available to 99.9% of all applicants across the world.

I would ask the Deputy to encourage his constituents to apply online well in advance of their travel date for the quickest, cheapest and most efficient service.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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83. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to indicate if and when passports will be approved in the case of persons (details supplied), who applied for renewal six weeks ago and where the witness made an error on the form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21201/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputies have enquired, further supporting documents for these applications were received on 3 May 2024. Turnaround time from the receipt of further supporting documents is 15 working days.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when passports will issue to siblings in County Galway (details supplied); the reason for the delay in issuing said passports, especially as the applications were lodged on-line on 31 January 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21211/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputy has enquired, further supporting documents for this application were received on 26 April 2024. Turnaround time from the receipt of further supporting documents is 15 working days.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a first-time passport application (details supplied) will be processed in time for travel on 14 May 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21222/24]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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86. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a first-time passport application (details supplied) will be processed in time for travel on 14 May 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21223/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 86 together.

With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputy has enquired, these applications are within the current turnaround times and have not yet reached their issue by date.