The service is urging those over 18 to apply online to avoid disappointment.

Reports of Ireland's Passport Office experiencing significant delays surfaced earlier this week when a Fianna Fáil TD published a post to social media urging applicants to apply online. James Lawless TD, Junior Spokesperson on Science, Technology, Research and Development, took to Facebook to make the claim, stating that "a backlog of over 50,000" applications were currently being processed. Lawless, speaking exclusively to JOE, went on to claim that applications are currently taking up to double the amount of time that's been allocated for the service. "What is usually advertised, and supposed to take three weeks, is now more like six to eight weeks," he said. JOE reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment, who responded with a statement confirming that approximately 60,000 applications currently in rotation. "The Passport Service has advised that there are approximately 60,000 applications in the system as the busy, holiday season is well underway. In addition, as the Easter break is early, people are already preparing to travel before the summer break. It should be noted however that these are applications that are going through the normal checking process rather than a backlog," the statement read. "We advise any adult applicant renewing their passport to do so online. This service is fast, secure and in most cases the applicant’s new passport will be with them in less than two weeks. In fact, at the moment, despite the difficulties caused by storm Emma for about half our online applicants in Ireland, the turnaround is less than a week. "Given the recent severe weather conditions (which resulted in office closure for two days), the turnaround time for the processing of applications received through the Passport Express service (via An Post offices) was extended. All available resources are currently being allocated to the processing of these applications and over 220 temporary clerical officers have been hired for the peak season. "These measures should result in a return to the target turnaround times of 15 working days for Passport Express renewals in the coming days. As always first time applications will continue to take longer, as more checks and balances are undertaken for this application category. "The Passport Service continues to offer appointments to applicants travelling in three weeks or less. For example, last week, the Dublin (Mount Street) and Cork office have offered appointments to more than 500 applicants to submit their application at the public counters and these applicants will have their passports in good time for travel. Also, the Rapid Renewal service, which offers appointments for a same day service, has today alone processed applications for more than 20 people travelling today or tomorrow." According to the Department of Foreign Affair's website, only those over 18 years of age can apply for a passport renewal online. Those applying for children's passports must do so in person.