Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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87. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will consider putting a printing system in place in the Cork Passport Office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29778/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Passport Service has issued over 660,000 passports to date this year. Virtually all complete passport applications are being processed within or before advertised turnaround times with the majority of adult online renewal applications issuing within two working days. There are currently no backlogs and 95% of applicants apply through Passport Online which is now available to 99.9% of all applicants globally.

The Passport Online service offers citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This award-winning service has allowed for the centralisation of passport processing and has resulted in greater efficiencies for our citizens and for the Passport Service. Passport Online is a user-friendly, efficient service that is currently issuing the vast majority of adult renewal passports within 2 to 4 days.

The Passport Offices in Dublin 2 and in Cork operate a four day Urgent Appointment service for renewal applications. The Cork office offers over 1,000 four day appointments per month. Throughout this year, an average of only 29% of appointments available in Cork were booked.

The Dublin office also offers a one-day Urgent Appointment service. However, this year only 0.7% of all passport applicants availed of this one-day service.

The Passport Service estimates the initial capital cost of purchasing and installing a new printer and mailing machine in Cork to be approximately €6 million. In addition to the capital investment, the annual cost of running and maintaining these machines in Cork is estimated to be €600,000 per year.

For these reasons, at the moment, a business case cannot be made to invest this level of funds to facilitate the very small proportion of applicants who wish to have their passport renewed within one day in Cork.

I am satisfied that the current Passport Online service and production capacity meets the needs of passport applicants. The Passport Service will continue to consider ways in which to enhance this essential citizen service.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of four-day turnaround passport applications made through Cork Passport Office to date in 2024; the number of same-day turnaround passport applications made in the Dublin Passport Office, from the Munster region, to date in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29779/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Passport Service has issued over 660,000 passports to date this year. Virtually all complete passport applications are being processed within or before advertised turnaround times with the majority of adult online renewal applications issuing within two working days.

The Passport Service strongly encourages Irish citizens to use the Passport Online service as the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to apply for a passport. The Passport Online service offers Irish citizens the ability to apply online for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is available to 99.9% of all applicants across the world.

In the event of sudden bereavement or serious illness of a family member abroad, the applicant should contact the Passport Office and advise them of the issue. Priority is given to these applications by the Passport Service. In the event that such an occurrence should happen out of office hours, the applicant should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs on 01 408 2000 and request to speak to the Duty Officer. The Duty Officer will advise the applicant in full of the correct procedure. In cases of travel emergency, the Passport Service will require proof of the emergency.

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.

There are 264 four-day renewal appointments available in Dublin and 280 four-day renewal appointments available in Cork every week.

There are currently 220 one-day renewal appointments available in Dublin every week. So far this year just over 5000 citizens availed of this one-day service. Of these approximately 600 provided an address in the Munster region.

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 Ireland.ie/PassportAppointment.

The number of four-day turnaround passport applications made through Cork and Dublin Passport Offices to date in 2024 and the number of same-day turnaround passport applications made in the Dublin Passport Office to date in 2024 are outlined before in tabular form.