Delays as passport applications soar to record level

With more and more people now taking a foreign holiday, the Passport Service has been inundated, receiving the highest number of passport applications in the history of the State on one day this month.

On May 7 alone, the service received 7,000 applications and, according to Eamon Gilmore, the foreign affairs minister, that is just one factor contributing to recent processing delays.

More than 93% of passport applications are made through Passport Express, a joint venture with An Post allowing people to make their applications through post offices around the country.

Mr Gilmore said the service tries to return a passport to applicants within 10 working days.

“82% of Passport Express applications were processed within 10 days during 2013,” he said.

“However passport demand in Ireland is seasonal. Almost 50% of all passport applications are received in the four months April to July.

“Notwithstanding the best efforts to plan in advance for such seasonal pressures, spikes in demand can still occur.”

He said there had been two “sharp peaks” in demand as a result of naturalisation ceremonies in January and March when around 8,000 new Irish citizens applied for their passports within a relatively short period of time.

“Moreover, on May 7, the Passport Service received nearly 7,000 applications which is the single largest daily recorded intake of passport applications in the history of the State,” he said.

He said in an effort to improve the delivery of Passport Express and other services, the Passport Service has taken additional measures to deal with these short delays and the rise in demand for the summer. These include:

- The recruitment and training of 160 temporary clerical officers, mostly taken from the live register.

- Separation of renewal applications from those applying for the first time or who have lost or had their passports stolen; and

- The use of overtime.

“So far this year over 85% of applicants have received their passports in 12 working days or less,” Mr Gilmore said.

“Currently the average processing times for renewal applications is less than 10 working days with others such as first- time applications averaging 10 to 11 working days.”