Passport Services
Dail Éireann — 2022-03-24
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Simon Coveney (FG), Cork South-Central

We are always open to suggestions to improve the experience. There have been very high volumes this week. I understand that the wait time on phones has been longer than normal. We will respond to that by increasing resources accordingly. That line is up and running; it was never there before. People effectively had to look online to see the status of their passport application. We put in place a specific Oireachtas service that only Oireachtas offices can call into, but it is busy.
Many of the applications are stuck in the system because there is a problem with the paperwork. We need to solve this because the communications between the Passport Office and applicants needs to improve so that we get a more consistent approach to passport applications. Of the applications that have been in the system for more than a month, 37%, or 38,000, require the applicants to provide further information. Those are often the applications that come to a Deputy's office and so on. We need to ensure the integrity of the system. We cannot just fast-track applications because that is what people want. We need to ensure we guard against fraud and ensure that we have the paperwork intact.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-03-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:17+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-03-24