James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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355. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a passport application by a person (details supplied) will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54009/21]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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356. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a person (details supplied) will be provided with the cover page required to complete their passport renewal. [54013/21]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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381. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when a passport will issue to a person (details supplied) considering that the application had an estimated issue date of 19 October 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54382/21]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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383. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a passport application by a person (details supplied) will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54514/21]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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388. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if passports will be dispatched to persons (details supplied) in time for their travel plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54588/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 355, 356, 377, 381, 383, 387 and 388 together.

With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputies have enquired, the Passport Service has provided an update on the status of the passport application to the applicant.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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370. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will examine a passport application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54071/21]

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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380. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of a passport application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54283/21]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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382. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when a passport application lodged on 22 August 2021 will be processed and dispatched to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54383/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 357, 367, 370, 380 and 382 together.

With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputies have enquired, the Passport Service has already issued passports to the applicants.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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371. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications in which no queries have been raised yet that are on hand for more than two months and three months, respectively; the reason for the delay in processing these passports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54145/21]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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372. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications on hand in the Passport Office at present; the steps being taken to clear this backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54146/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 358 to 361, inclusive, 364 to 366, inclusive, 368, 371 and 372 together.

The Emergency Passport service remains available in cases of medical emergency or death of a family member abroad. Proof of emergency is required to avail of this service. Passport Service officers working on the emergency service are not qualified to assess the mental health of an enquirer to that service. However, in cases of genuine and documented emergency, every effort is made to assist the applicant. Emergency requests are prioritised through the Oireachtas Urgent Query Service. The Passport Service does not currently track the number of passports issued under the emergency service as they form part of our overall passport numbers. However, in October alone 4,600 emergency queries were handled by the Customer Service Hub.

The Customer Service Hub is currently staffed by 75 officers. Since June of this year, the Hub has handled almost 125,000 queries by phone and webchat. In October 2021, staff in the Customer Service Hub dealt with 13,000 calls and 15,000 webchat contacts. Due to the large volume of passport queries being directed to the Customer Service Hub, unfortunately it can be challenging to get through on the phone lines or through the webchat facility. My Department continues to recruit and assign additional staff to this service to meet current and expected demand.

With regard to the dedicated passport phone line, as the Deputy will be aware a temporary line has been established to respond to queries on urgent passports cases. For operational reasons queries on this temporary line are restricted and the number of cases concerned is being kept under active review.

The collection of passports by Oireachtas members cannot be facilitated as this significantly impacts the dispatch of passports for all other customers.

The Passport Offices in Mount St, Dublin 2 and in Cork are now offering an Urgent Appointment Service for the renewal of passports. The Urgent Appointment Service ensures that, for those who unexpectedly require a very urgent turnaround of a passport renewal, there is an option available that is transparent, predictable and clear. It means that an applicant can book and pay for their appointment, safe in the knowledge that they will have their passport within a day, or a few days. To avail of the Urgent Appointment Service for Passport Renewal, applicants must first book an appointment to attend the public office in Dublin or Cork. Applicants can book an appointment through the Department of Foreign Affairs website (www.dfa.ie/passports). Over 800 urgent appointments have been facilitated since the Passport Service launched this service on 27th September 2021.

The current passport processing times are:

- 10 working days for Simple Adult renewals

- 15 working days for Complex renewals

- 40 working days for First Time Applications on Passport Online

- 8 weeks for An Post’s mail-in “Passport Express” service

Over half a million passport books and cards have been issued to date in 2021. Almost 45% of passports for simple online adult renewals issue within one business day. 92% of correctly completed applications are processed within the turnaround times.

Deputies should be aware that the processing times are based on current average application turnaround times and apply to passport applications that are fully complete, where all required supporting documentation has been correctly submitted to the Passport Service by the applicant. The projected passport issue date provided to applicants on the online Passport Tracker provides an indication only of the estimated issue date based on current averages and is not an intended guarantee of service. The projected passport issue date by the Passport Tracker provided does not include postage time. Passports are dispatched for delivery by An Post. Once the passport has been dispatched, the Passport Tracker provides the applicant with an An Post reference number to track their passport through the postal system. Passports for delivery in Ireland by An Post are generally received by the applicant within one working day.

Applications can take longer than the average turnaround time if applicants have not provided all of the required documentation to correctly complete their application. There are currently 10,000 postal applications and 95,000 online passport applications on hand at the Passport Service. Of the online applications, 35,000 or 36% of applications, require the applicant to submit the documents needed to complete their passport application. The Passport Service engages with all applicants who have not submitted the required documentation to ensure that their application is completed correctly and can proceed through the processing system. Of the applications that are with the Passport Service for processing, approximately 8% are past the estimated issue-by date. A total of 2,300 completed applications requiring action by the Passport Service were received prior to 4 September 2021. These applications are currently being prioritised by the Passport Service who are working very hard to eliminate these delays.

The Passport Service is currently experiencing a high demand for first time passports. These first time applications are complex to process. The Passport Service must validate the true identity of the applicant and take measures to confirm the applicant’s entitlement to Irish citizenship, which they are claiming for the first time. Vetting identity and citizenship is fundamentally important to protecting the integrity of the Irish passport. In the case of first time passport applications for children, the consent of guardians must be thoroughly validated. Due to the extra measures involved, processing time for first time online passport applications is 40 working days.

The Passport Service continually examines how to improve processing times and engagement with applicants, particularly in light of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Passport Service and the high demand for passports seen in recent months as international travel resumed. In the context of the National Development Plan, my Department is making a major investment in the future of the Passport Service. Over the next couple of years, we will replace the core technology underpinning the service, which will deliver efficiencies and a more resilient passport system. Budget 2022 also included an investment of an additional €10m in passport services in response to the increasing demand for passports both at home and abroad.

Adequate staffing of the Passport Service to respond to demand remains a priority for my Department and is an issue that is kept under constant review. My Department is actively working with the Public Appointments Service on an ongoing basis to recruit and assign additional staff to meet the current and forecasted high demand for passports. In addition, the Passport Service is working with relevant divisions within my Department to ensure the health and safety of all staff and is finalising plans in co-operation with the OPW to ensure that additional staff will be accommodated to meet the anticipated increased demand for passports expected in 2022.

I urge citizens to check the validity of their passports before booking travel and to ensure that they apply in plenty of time in order to have their passport in hand well in advance of their travel date. In the case of people planning to travel in 2022, whose passports are already out of date or who have children who are first-time applicants, I would encourage them to apply now online.

The Passport Online service continues to be the fastest and most efficient channel for passport applications and is available to first time applicants, both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. All Irish citizens, including children can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world.

The figures requested by Deputy Collins in Parliamentary Question 54047/21 are outlined in tabular form below.