Last month applications for Irish passports hit an all time high.
(Image: dfa.ie)The Government has urged people to check their expiry date on their passport.
This is to avoid disappointment as applications hit 'highest ever' number in January.
In particular, first time passport applications are experiencing delays.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney told Newstalk,
"at the moment it's taking about 40 working days for a first-time, online application."
Minister Coveney said there’s a possibility that 1.7 million passport applications will be made this year.
Online passport renewal for an adult has a guide period of 10 days,
But the majority are done in 48 hours.
Previous to this, the highest number of applications recorded was in 2019 with 935,000 people applying.
Nearly 138,000 people applied for a passport in January.
Currently there are 100,000 online applications and 13,000 paper applications in the system.
With the high demand, an extra €10m has been set aside got passport services in 2022.
Staffing levels will rise - and Minister Conevey explained that more people will be available to answer passport queries.
Last summer the Passport Office employed 460 people - currently there are 770 employees.
By the end of March, that figure will rise to 900.
