Dail Éireann · 2023-04-27
Part of Priority Questions
Party shown is the one held on 2023-04-27, frozen at parse time — not the speaker's party today.
3. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the measures in place to ensure that a backlog of passport applications does not emerge in 2023; and the measures he will take to ensure that passports, including for first-time applicants, can be secured in an accelerated manner in urgent and emergency cases. [19792/23]
Will he outline the measures that will be taken to ensure that applicants for passports, particularly first-time applicants, can have access to an accelerated processing of a passport when it is necessary? So far, 5,600 digital birth certificates have been received by the passport service. The passport service offers an in-person urgent appointment service for passport renewal at its offices in Dublin and Cork.
The passport service has a dedicated team of people who expedite applications in cases of medical emergency or the death of a family member abroad, including for first-time applicants. The closing date for applications in respect of the 2023/2024 school year is 28th April 2023 and Bus Eireann will review applications and plan routes during the summer month for the upcoming school year.
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What measures is the Tánaiste putting in place to ensure we do not see the backlog of passport applications that we saw in recent years? Will he outline the measures that will be taken to ensure that applicants for passports, particularly first-time applicants, can have access to an accelerated processing of a passport when it is necessary?
I thank Deputy Carthy for the question. As a result of the strategic planning under way in my Department since last year, the passport service is meeting the current high demand for passports. Almost 350,000 passports have been issued to date in 2023. Just under 1.1 million passports in total are expected to be issued this year. There are no passport application backlogs and all turnaround times are at their target levels.
Staffing remains a priority and recruitment will continue in the coming months. Approximately 100 temporary clerical officers have been assigned to the passport service since January 2023 as well as more than 90 permanent staff. The customer service hub is currently responding to an average of 3,000 queries per day.
The passport service continually works to enhance its services to the public. I am pleased to announce that a number of improvements were made recently to the passport online platform. These improve a customised list of the supporting documents for first-time applicants, an eircode look-up tool to facilitate the input of postal addresses and a new integration feature with the general register office. This integration will benefit a significant cohort of first-time child applicants who will no longer be required to submit a physical birth certificate. These are very welcome innovations. So far, 5,600 digital birth certificates have been received by the passport service. Online continues to be the most efficient way to apply for a passport.
I am pleased to update Deputies further on the MLA portal. This was launched on 17 March with 33 queries received in the first week. The passport service offers an in-person urgent appointment service for passport renewal at its offices in Dublin and Cork. Due to the complex nature of first-time applications, it is not possible to process these at urgent appointments. The passport service has a dedicated team of people who expedite applications in cases of medical emergency or the death of a family member abroad, including for first-time applicants.
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year, over 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
In addition, school transport scheme services are being provided in the current school year for over 4,500 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine.
The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338.9m.
Under the terms of the Primary School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kms from and are attending their nearest primary school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
For the 2022/2023 school year Bus Eireann received 12 applications for the school referred to by the Deputy. Four of these applications were from eligible families and the remaining eight families were deemed concessionary applications.
Bus Eireann consider the establishment of a route if at least 10 applications are received from eligible families from a distinct location before the application closing date. For the 2022/23 school year this requirement was not met and therefore, the establishment of a service could not be considered.
Families can apply for online at: buseireann.ie/schooltransport. The closing date for applications in respect of the 2023/2024 school year is 28th April 2023 and Bus Eireann will review applications and plan routes during the summer month for the upcoming school year.
I will be dealing with that matter in more detail later. We are continually focusing on improving the situation for first-time applicants. I have outlined the significant innovations to facilitate that, particularly in terms of birth registration in respect of which there has always been a delay. There will now also be lower costs through avoiding the need for physical birth certificates to be supplied.
The system does have the impact that the Deputy has outlined in terms of applications going to the bottom of the pile, so to speak, but we will continue to work on this to see if we can expedite it even further. To date this year, the turnaround time has been exceptional. I appreciate the Deputy's comments in respect of the staff. The longest call on any one day last week was five minutes. Calls are being responded to very quickly. We will continue to seek to improve services all around.
This is an area in respect of which we need to improve. I am sure the Tánaiste's office has dealt with such situations. There is nothing worse than someone in a household realising that a passport is out of date or, worse, that there is an understanding of the length of time it takes for a first-time application to be resolved. In that context, I ask the Tánaiste to engage with the Passport Office to arrange for the putting in place of a facility for urgent cases. I accept that the facilities are there in emergency cases. For urgent cases, however, there should be a mechanism whereby first-time applicants can present at the office in order to get an accelerated passport. There can be many instances where that urgency is required. It is one of the final pieces that is required in order to ensure everybody using the passport service has a good experience.
The Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill has passed all stages of Seanad Éireann, and passed Second Stage in Dáil Éireann on 8th July 2021.
Officials in my Department are continuing to engage with stakeholders including the National Parents Council and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children on matters pertaining to the Bill in advance of the Bill progressing to Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann.
I recently launched Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying Implementation Plan 2023-2027 . The implementation plan includes a reference to my Department’s commitment to continue to engage with stakeholders regarding the Charter Bill with a view to progressing the legislation.