Passport renewals may move to online only as the Government examines ways to speed up processing times as hundreds face missing holidays due to demand on the service.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar also said passport forms are being reviewed to see if the process can be improved as there are severe difficulties with first time passports.
TDs are facing intense criticism from their constituents as there are 195,000 outstanding applications and face missing their holiday abroad.
READ MORE: Ireland reacts to 'tone deaf' Passport Express name change as service is too slow
Mr Varadkar said: “I totally acknowledge that there is a big problem here and I want to apologise to anyone that has been inconvenienced by the delay in getting a passport.
“One thing [we’re examining] is whether we should move to an online only system for renewals because that works really well and that would help with some of the delays so that’s being examined as a potential solution.
“We’re also examining the forms as well to see whether they can be improved..it’s always my view that if may be 5% of the applicants are filled in wrong, that’s probably the applicants’ that made the mistake.
“But if it’s 40%, then there’s something wrong with the application process and we need to find out what that is and how to streamline it.
“The other [issue] is some of these issues around the gardai can sometimes check a form but when they’re contacted afterwards for authentication, there’s a gap in the communications there.”
An Post has advised customers that "the Passport Office is currently taking six to eight weeks to process applications and renewals through the Post Passport channel.”
The DAil heard on Thursday from angry TDs who have said the passport service is “at breaking point” with people losing money on their holidays despite applying for passports well in advance.
Sinn Fein TD John Brady told the DAil he is aware of a constituent who has phoned the passport service up to 600 times.
Mr Varadkar added: “I know from my constituency office, I’m a Dublin TD and I think it’d be rare enough that people would come to us about passports and I’d say it’s probably 30% or 40% of our caseload at the moment.
“It does look like the renewals are working very well particularly if people renew online, it’s been done in less than a week, often only a few days but we are running into real difficulties with first-time passports because of the fact that photographs have to be authenticated and so on.
“Minister Coveney and his team are doing everything they can to speed that up and improve things as we run into the summer.”
On Wednesday, An Post renamed its passport application service from 'Passport Express' to 'Post Passport'.
The change came following complaints that the name was misleading due to delays in getting applications processed.
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