| Kildare travel goers in need of a passport for urgent travel might be dismayed to know that there are approximately 89,000 Passport Online applications in the system, most of which have been received in the last three months, according to Senator Fiona O’Loughlin. However Senator O’Loughlin stated that all urgent passport applications will continue to be dealt with expeditiously and the webchat service is available to answer queries about specific circumstances “While this might seem like a large number, in the context of the passport service, it is quite small,” said Senator O’Loughlin. “In the same period in 2019, approximately 420,000 applications were received, and in 2020 approximately 260,000 applications were received. Two thirds of applications are for renewals of passports. That is important because once services are resumed fully, these can be processed quite quickly because of the technological advancements in the passport service over the past four years.” The return of operations will commence with all applications received via Passport Online. “The Passport Service has a plan in place which will become operational in the near future as restrictions are eased and which will quickly clear the backlog of passport applications,” she concluded. |
