New €14.7m passport system won't alleviate existing delays

Delays in the processing of passports as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has meant a significant backlog in applications. This is particularly acute for first-time passport applicants.

A contract worth over €14.7m has been awarded for the development of a new system to process passports for the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Described by the department as “central” to the delivery of its passport reform programme, it aims to replace the existing legacy systems to manage the processing of passports for the public.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said that while the project would deliver a “more resilient passport system”, it would take some time to complete and would not address the immediate challenges facing the system.

The contract was awarded to HID Global Ireland Teoranta. The company previously worked on the Irish passport card, which is valid for travel across the EU.

The request for tender was first issued in 2019, with the contract award notice published last week.

In the tender documents, it says this new system will be the “main on-premise back-office processing system and system-of-record” for all passport and foreign birth registration applications.

It will be available for staff to use at passport offices in Dublin, Cork and abroad. It will be used for people who apply for passports online, via post and in-person.

The new system is set to come as delays in the processing of passports as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has meant a significant backlog in applications. This is particularly acute for first-time passport applicants.

The issue of delays has been repeatedly raised at parliamentary party meetings as constituents reached out to their TDs while waiting to receive their passports.

Backlog built up

The backlog built up significantly over the course of this year, as much of the operation of the passport office was suspended during the period of level 5 restrictions at the beginning of 2021.

According to Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, the current turnaround time for passports are 10 working days for “simple adult” renewals, 15 working days for “complex renewals”, 40 working days for first-time applicants on passport online and eight weeks for An Post’s mail-in Passport Express service.

In a statement, a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the new contract will see the replacement of core technology underpinning the passport service, which has been in place since 2004.

“It was a complex tender and it was necessary to undertake the tender twice, in order to reach a satisfactory outcome,” the spokesperson said.

“The project, funded as part of the National Development Plan, will take a number of years to complete. While it is more focused on internal systems than customer-facing, it will deliver efficiencies and a more resilient passport system.

“It will not assist in addressing the immediate challenges facing the passport service but it should mitigate the risk of such challenges in future.”