TRAVELLERS HAVE been urged not to book tickets unless their documents are in date, due to a massive surge in demand at the Passport Service.
With applications for passport renewals rising to record levels, it is taking up to a week longer than the normal two-week period to process applications. Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore blamed the surge partly on an increase in the popularity of last-minute foreign holidays, which has led to unprecedented numbers of applications for passports at short notice. Spring and early summer is normally the busiest time at the Passport Service and queues have again formed at its office on Molesworth Street, Dublin.
Requests for passports are running at 13 per cent higher than last year, amounting to an average 4,260 a day. On two days last week, however, 5,200 applications were received, 700 more than the previous record number of applications for a single day.
The trend threatens a repeat of the chaos of last year, when delays of up to five weeks resulted in many travellers missing flights or having to reschedule them. Mr Gilmore promised this week to reduce waiting times through the use of overtime and the deployment of extra temporary staff who have been recruited but are currently in training.
The biggest increase in applications this year has been for children between the ages of three and 18, which are up 16 per cent on last year, Mr Gilmore told the Dáil.
Due to the surge in demand, the turnaround time for applications received through the Passport Express system is currently running between 11 and 13 working days.