The Department of Foreign Affairs has apologised for the delay in passport application with some people waiting up to 8 weeks to get theirs.
General Secretary of the DFA Niall Burgess appeared before the Public Accounts Committee this morning to explain the reasons.
He said that checking first time renewals and lost passports are take longer than regular applications, while Garda vetting for temporary staff is also a factor.
Speaking at the Committee meeting this morning, Deputy Catherine Murphy of the Social Democrats says she's heard of one person who missed a family wedding due to a delay with their application.
'I've had somebody that missed a wedding who couldn't get a passport, I've had one or two other cases in the last year but that particular one sticks out because it was felt to be very hurtful in the family'
However Niall Burgess says the DFA isn't aware of anyone who's missed their flight due to passport delays.
He says that the past 6 months have been the busiest in the passport office's history, up 8.5 percent on last year, and that he hopes that all targets will be met by next month.
People applying for new passports or renewals are being advised to do so online, however all applications for children must still be done in person.
