Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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83. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the average time it takes to process a passport application where the documentation provided is correct and complete for a person born abroad to Irish parents or grandparents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44756/24]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the average time taken to process a first-time application for a passport from an Irish citizen or child whose paperwork is correctly lodged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44757/24]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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85. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the percentage of passport applications lodged online in the past year; the total number of applications received in the office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44758/24]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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86. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the time taken to process a correctly lodged paper application for both a first-time passport application and a renewal; the reason for the delay with these applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44759/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 to 86, inclusive, together.

To date this year, the Passport office has issued over 936,000 passports. 900,000 applications have been received in 2024. This year, 92% of passport applicants applied through the Passport Online channel. 6% of applicants have applied by post, while 2% of applicants have applied through the public counter of the Passport Offices in Dublin and Cork.

The majority of adult online renewal applications are approved within 2 days. Virtually all passport applications are being issued at, or ahead of, their target level and there are no backlogs.

Passport estimated turnaround times are:

• 10 working days for simple adult online renewals

• 15 working days for complex or child online renewals

• 20 working days for first time online applications

• 8 weeks for Post Passport (paper) applications

It is important to note that processing times do not begin when the applicant applies online. Processing time is calculated once the Passport Service receives any supporting documents that are required to complete the application.

The estimated turnaround time for correct and complete first-time online applications received through Passport Online is 20 working days. This estimated turnaround time applies to first time applicants resident in Ireland and overseas regardless of whether they are adults or children. The turnaround time does not include postage time.

The turnaround time for Post Passport applications is 40 working days, if all documentation is in order. The turnaround time is the same for Post Passport first time and renewal applications.

If an application is rejected due to missing documentation or issues with the photo, it is Passport Service policy to process the application within 15 working days from when the missing documentation is received. In cases where further supporting documents are required from the applicant, every effort is made to let the applicant know as soon as possible.

I encourage everyone to apply through the Passport Online service, which offers citizens the ability to apply for their passport 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is a user-friendly, efficient service that consistently offers processing times over four times faster than paper-based passport adult renewal applications. The online service is now available to 99.9% of all applicants around the world, including babies, children and first time applicants.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR or Naturalisation. My Department processes applications for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended.

Once a person is entered on the Foreign Births Register, they are deemed an Irish citizen and are entitled to apply for an Irish passport. By its nature, Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) is a detailed and complex process; it can involve official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. To protect the integrity of the citizenship process, these applications require careful processing to validate the identity of the applicant, the documents they have submitted, and their entitlement to Irish citizenship. Accordingly, all applications undergo rigorous and detailed checking by experienced officers at the passport service, which takes considerable time to validate.

Due to the complex nature of the FBR process, it takes approximately nine months to process a fully compete FBR application that requires no further submissions. The processing time begins when the application form and supporting documents are received by the FBR Unit.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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87. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passports issued in each of the past ten years at the absolute discretion of the Minister as provided in law to people who do not have an automatic entitlement to an Irish passport by birth, descent , naturalisation and so on; the reasons for using this provision in the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44760/24]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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88. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to respond to an urgent query regarding the Irish passport required for a newborn child, born in the Netherlands to Irish citizens living in the Netherlands (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44770/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008, as amended. The 2008 Act provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to that person. Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation.

For individuals born outside of Ireland, they may claim citizenship if they had at least one parent who was born on the island of Ireland and where that parent is an Irish citizen. An individual born on the island of Ireland before 1 January 2005 is automatically an Irish citizen.

My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.

FBR applications are currently being processed within the normal turnaround time of 9 months from receipt of supporting documents. Applications which require further supporting documents will take longer to process.

Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate.

The Passport Service Customer Service Hub has dedicated agents to deal with Foreign Birth Registration application queries. The contact number for urgent Foreign Birth Registration queries is +353 1 568 3331. This number is also available on the Department's website.

With regard to the specific FBR application about which the Deputy has enquired, a member of the FBR team has been in touch with the applicant’s parent and explained the specific supporting documents required for their application. The application cannot proceed until the required supporting documents are submitted. Officials in the relevant Irish Embassy are in contact with the family and have provided information and guidance to assist them locally.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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89. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44788/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the Passport Service has issued the passport to the applicant.