Passport Office summer pressure
Deputy Mary Butler asked whether passport processing capacity would be increased for the busy summer season, and Deputy Michael Healy-Rae suggested a second printing machine in Cork. The Taoiseach said extra staff are usually taken on in summer and processing volumes were already very high.
I call Deputy Mary Butler. I might get one more Member in after her, namely Deputy Michael Moynihan.
Comment on this
It is holiday season and the Passport Office is extremely busy with renewals and new applications with Brexit pending. There was a 10% increase in the first four months of this year compared with last year. I compliment the staff in the Passport Office, who are under immense pressure. Are there plans to increase capacity during the summer months because the offices of every Member are inundated with people who are under pressure to renew their passports?
Comment on this
An obvious answer to this is a second set of machinery to print passports, based in Cork, to take the pressure off Dublin. I compliment the staff working in the Passport Office and the Minister's Department on the work they are doing.
Comment on this
It is always the case that additional staff are taken on over the summer period so I imagine that this is happening or has happened. Some 770,000 passport applications have been processed to date. This gives an indication of the increase in demand because of people availing themselves of their right to Irish citizenship and because of more people being able to afford to travel abroad.