Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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50.To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade what is being done to address the backlog in passport applications [25029/24]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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51.To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount of passport target dates that have been exceeded. [25030/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 51 together.

The Passport Service has issued over 570,000 passports to date in 2024.

The Passport Service is well staffed with a total of 840 staff currently, and is in an excellent position to deliver the level of demand forecasted for this year, even with the busy summer season underway.

It is important to note that turnaround times for applications that require supporting documents begin from the date the Passport Service receives the supporting documents. Applications that are incomplete and require further supporting documents will take longer.

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.

Latest Passport Service figures show that in May 2024, a total of 113,000 passports were issued to online applicants. 0.8% of these applications from adult renewal applicants exceeded their issue-by date, while just 2% of these applications from child renewal applicants exceed their issue-by date. Approximately 12% of total online applications exceeded their target issue-by date. These comprised primarily of complex, first-time applications that require a broad range of supporting documents to verify the citizenship entitlement and identity of the applicant and require rigorous checking by experienced and skilled entitlement officials in order to protect the integrity of the Irish passport.