Tánaiste announces Passport Service overview for 2023
- Published on: 29 December 2023
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
The Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin, has announced that over 1 million applications have been received by the Passport Service in 2023, and demand forecasts indicate that around 950,000 passports will issue this year.
Passport Online has been rolled out to an additional 175 countries for first time applicants this year, meaning that 99.9% of all first-time and renewal applicants around the world can apply online.
Online enhancements introduced in 2023 have also simplified the process for first time applicants, especially when applying for a child’s first passport.
The Passport Service is successfully meeting high demand for passports with turnaround times at or well-ahead of target, and no backlogs. The majority of online adult renewal applications issue within two working days.
The processing time for Foreign Birth Registration (FBR), which is available to people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through descent, has decreased by 75% from over two and a half years in 2022 to 8 months currently. The Passport Service has approved over 36,000 FBR applications this year.
The Passport Service was recently ranked 18th out of 150 public-facing organisations in a survey conducted by the Customer Experience (CX) group. This ranking recognised the Passport Service as the best customer service brand in the public sector. In addition, the Customer Service Hub in the Passport Service was shortlisted for the “Best Customer Service Team” award at the 2023 Customer Experience Awards.
Speaking about this year’s exceptional performance, the Tánaiste said:
"In 2023, the Passport Service has delivered an enormous volume of passports. Between 2,000 and 3,000 passports are currently being issued every day and over 950,000 passports will have been issued by the end of the year.
“The performance of the Customer Service Hub in particular has been exceptional. The Hub is consistently answering all calls and has handled over 600,000 queries from citizens this year. This hard work and commitment to public service has resulted in the Passport Service being recognised as the best customer service brand in the public sector.
"Following the challenges faced in 2021 and 2022, these achievements are truly something to take pride in. I want to pay tribute to the passports team across the country who continue to work hard to deliver an excellent service for our citizens.
"Looking forward to 2024, my department is expecting another busy year for the Passport Service. I would encourage anyone who is considering travel to check that their passport is in date, and if they need to renew their passport or apply for the first time, to use Passport Online. This is the quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to apply for your passport.
"My department will continue to work to ensure that our services meet the needs of our citizens in 2024.”
