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TDS HAVE SAID their offices have been inundated with requests for passports due to the summer backlog at the Passport Office.
Last month, TheJournal.ie revealed that politicians had made nearly 5,000 representations to the Passport Office on behalf of their constituents over the last two years.
TDs can make representations to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Passport Office on behalf of distressed constituents whose passport applications are taking longer than expected.
The Department of Foreign Affairs currently has a dedicated channel of communication for politicians and the Passport Office and is the dedicated point of contact for all representatives.
The information released to TheJournal.ie under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that six TDs have made between 100 to 200 representations in the last two years.
Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan made the most representations, totalling 196.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said recently that he does not think the offices of TDs and senators should be turned into passport processing offices.
Peak season
The Passport Office is currently in its peak season for passport demand due to the summer holidays, with added pressure being heaped on staff due to the increase in applications due to Brexit.
There has been a record number of Irish passports issued in the first five months of this year, amounting to 500,000.
However, the minister said plans are in place to reduce the wait times and streamline the service over the next year.
A number of deputies, including Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe and Brian Stanley, recently raised concerns about the passport application process.
Crowe said his office and that of other TDs “have been inundated with requests from constituents regarding the current delays in getting passports”.
The minister said he is aware that the delays that have arisen this year have translated into “political requests”.
“Virtually every member of this House has been asked to solve individual problems for families and constituents. That is a really ineffective way of dealing with tens of thousands of passports each week,” he said.
Useful in emergencies
While there has been suggestions in the past to scrap the scheme in which politicians can intervene in the passport process, Coveney said the system can be “useful for deputies to be able to assist in emergency situations”.
However, he added:
I do not think their offices should be turned into passport processing offices. We are trying to put in place a system to deal with these matters in a much more efficient way…It should also be possible to deal with emergency situations quickly without stalling the processing of the passport applications of everybody else
The minister said his department has put systems in place that deal more comprehensively with people’s concerns, adding that he believes “considerable improvement” will be seen when it becomes possible to apply for child passports online.
Currently, when a number of family members are renewing passports, the adult passports are delayed because of the security checks required for child passports.
“We are assessing at the moment. We are learning lessons from what has happened this year,” he said.
He said the online passport application service, which was launched last year, should make a major contribution to the effective management of the exceptionally high volumes.
Expansion of online services to help
The minister said he expects the online service will be available for renewing children’s applications by the end of the year and encouraged all applicants wherever possible to renew their passports using the online renewal service.
Coveney acknowledged that the service “has not been what we would like it to be for the past number of weeks” but he said the staff at the Passport Office have been doing a “heroic job given the extraordinary volumes with which they have had to deal”.
The department is currently reviewing how the peak period is being managed this year to ensure lessons are learnt for next year.
The issue has featured prominently on radio programmes such as RTÉ’s Joe Duffy this summer, where unsatisfied and worried travellers have called the phone line to complain about the delays and lack of information.
Crowe told the Dáil that while he understood there were huge demands on the office, the communication channel with its customers appears to be broken.
When someone goes online to look for information, it does not tell them that there is a delay in the system. If someone goes on Twitter, they do not get an answer. People are telling me that when they ring the Passport Service, they are not getting through or are not getting information. If they email it, they do not get information. There is a problem there with regard to up-to-date information so that needs to be resolved.
Coveney agreed that “better communication is the key”
“I am conscious that there are many repeat phone calls from people who are desperate to talk to somebody to get some certainty in advance of their holidays, business travel or emergency travel situations. We are looking at communications with a view to giving people the ability to get an update on the status of their passport applications within the system without having contact politicians to get that information,” said the minister.
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On what basis exactly can TDs intervene on behalf of constituents in skipping the queue?
The Parish Pump Act of 1863?
@alphanautica: The ‘Vote for ya next year act of 2000‘ seems to be in full swing.
@alphanautica: and the risk of having their unlocked bike stolen from outside the office.
Why can’t people better plan these things. Especially renewals. People should be looking to do it a year in advance.
@Stephen Duffy: Same eejits who don’t get travel insurance. But then go cap in hand to the media, when something goes wrong.
@Stephen Duffy: people are entitled to order a passport when ever they want. Its up to the passport office to provide this service. People should not have to take inefficiencies in to account
@Stephen Duffy: I don’t work in the passport office and but get requests for letters for them because “we are going on holidays in two weeks” and we need X,y,z
Can’t understand people leaving it until the last second. I’m really beginning to think that instead of falling over ourselves for these people, make them wait and if they get it, they get it. If not and they miss their holiday then let that be a lesson not to leave things til 2 weeks before you travel.
Same shit every bloody year.
@cr: inefficiencies? It takes time, simple as. In the real world documents have to be checked etc…
You are told how long the process is. No private company could deal with an annual surge without taking on more admin staff. Something the passport office can’t do without the nod from the government.
Youd be whining if you heard they were rushing production and loads of people not entitled to an Irish passport were getting one.
@Stephen Duffy: I’m not sure you understand the situation. The advised waiting time currently is 2 weeks. My friend thought he was very organised sending his 3yr old daughters application in 8 weeks ago, but it’s still not back. Fortunately there taking the boat to the UK, so hopefully won’t need it, but they can be asked for some form of photo ID. The point is that even the prepared people are getting screwed over by the delays as the advised waiting period is fantasy.
@Stephen Duffy: Hey stephen, unfortunatley its not always so black and white! We travel at the end of the month (july) we applied for the childs renewal back in March. The passport arrived in 6 weeks, my own passport was expiring in jan next and the travel agent told me the passport date was fine. Two weeks ago the embassy in Turkey issued notice that you need 150 days remaining to the expiry date. That put menin a spot of bother. I applied on line (on a Saturday) for my renewal ans the passport it came the Tuesday of the same week. I believe I had taken a responsible approach to my passport checks… I still got caught out.
@Stephen Duffy: we gave plenty of notice,we’re waiting for daughters passport to arrive,emails weren’t answered!they don’t take phone calls.
So decided to take morning off to see what was going on.
A clerical error was made and they passport office put it down for collection.it was ready for collection.i was sitting there with a few people with the very same problem.
It’s worth the trip in to see if the passport is there waiting.
@cr: yes people can leave it to the day before they go on holiday if they want and collect it on the way to the airport..!!
Online renewal takes 2 to 3 days………….i would never think to ring a td about something so trivial…….some people are obviously very important
@Eoin Scanlon: thank you for your assurance that all people using the online renewal facility will be guaranteed to get their passport renewed with 2 to 3 days.
@Paul Laing: Paul. I too applied and received my Renewal passport in Days. It apprars the problems apply to renewimg or getting kids passports as they cannot be renewed via the on line process
@Paul Laing: good lad
@Eoin Scanlon: Fancy meeting you here Polo.
Surely someone should report that there’s delays so people know to apply in plenty of time!!
At this stage they’re taking 8 weeks as people keep jumping the queue in front of those of us who are organised & submit in time.
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: and 8 weeks ago t when everyone submitted their applications they were probably only reporting 2 weeks.
The role of TDs is to use their influence to help some applicants jump the queue. It’s a corrupt system in which TDs can use their influence in return for favour.
There should be no need for such a backlog. We aren’t a huge population and the system needs to be improved. However people also need to learn to plan properly. We all know leading up to the summer is their busiest time so simply apply earlier. I renewed my daughter’s back in March. It took 6 weeks but I had it in plenty of time. I renewed my mum’s online back in April and it only took 3 working days.
@Caroline Reid: Just renewed my passport online, received it and the passport card within 2 weeks. Not too shabby.
@AJ McLaughlin: it seems online is a lot faster but unfortunately you can’t do kids’ online. With my mum’s I applied on a Friday evening and it arrived the Wednesday morning. Hadn’t expected it to be that fast at all
I applied last week for a babies passport,baby being a week old,that morning it was 25 working days turnaround and by the afternoon it had changed to 38 because of a surge in brexit applications,I had to show proof of travel to ensure that the passport is here by Sept.Im not saying brexiters shouldn’t have a passport if they are entitled but surely domiciled people who apply in time should have priority.If you apply last minute you can go in the pot and take your chances
Ordered my renewal online 3 weeks ago. Arrived on day 9. No TDs involved! Obviously it is the human intervention request stage that causes the problems. Get more humans from the sleepy backwaters of the ‘civil’ service.
Id say now if the names of the TDs were revealed you would see the same names over and over who use their fast service to garnish more votes.
I did mine online – 4 days, did my dad’s renewal -2 days did my mum’s renewal – about a week because we had to resend the picture. Never again would I use the postal system.
It is a question of allocating matching resources to the anticipated level of demand. This would require advance planning to anticipate peak demand and having enough resources to deal with the predictable level of demand.
@Paul Laing: or apply in plenty of time for kids and use the 3 day online process for adults.
@Paul: there are not enough trained staff to do the job in a sensible time cycle. So, people have to apply well in advance. The online renewal facility is not assured to work within 3 days and it would be imprudent to rely on a 3 day response time.
No accountability only excuses.
People born here should be getting priority over Yanks and Brits.
For a tiny country that trades with the planet & many people here work overseas at some point in their lives its hard to believe we cant get the passport system right. Those on here blaming the public miss the point. There has always been issues with this system. Its difficult slow & its not transparent. Also i myself have dealt with the passport office in 2 cities & like our nurses in the HSE you will not find a more helpful staff. Its the system is the problem. A passport is a very simple travel document can we please make it simple to apply for it.
@Mjhint: a passport is anything but a simple travel document!
Done mine online a few weeks ago and had it 2 days later.
Basically, they don’t have enough people working to solve the problem plus people are leaving it to late to apply
Parish pump politics
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