Covid-19 contact tracers may be redeployed to clear passport applications backlog

Covid-19 contact-tracing teams are being scaled back, with some due to be moved to the passport office in an attempt to tackle the backlog of applications, the HSE has said.

It added that the reduced prevalence of the disease means the need for contact tracing is changing, with many contracts for staff members assigned to the teams due to expire at the end of the month.

“Over the last number of weeks we have been working closely with other HSE services and other Government departments to identify what support our teams could provide to them after June 30th,” the HSE said in a letter.

The health authority said that while it requires “significantly” fewer contact-tracing staff, it will retain its centres in Dublin and Cork “for the purposes of any contact tracing requirements that may arise between now and the end of this year”. The contact-tracing function is expected to cease at centres in Limerick and Galway after June 30th.

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“We have worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs who have a requirement for staff in their Limerick offices and we have identified opportunities for our Limerick-based staff to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs in their passport service,” the HSE said.

“This work will be call-based work and staff will be based in their Limerick office, which is located in Henry Street. We will work directly with the team in Limerick to agree the process to facilitate this for those who wish to be involved in this project.”

The move comes following mounting pressure on the passport service to cope with the level of demand as travel rebounds following the pandemic. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said the Passport Service issued almost 600,000 passports in the first six months of the year, which is close to the total number issued last year.

“There has been a 50 to 60 per cent increase in passport applications this year. We are responding to that by [having] a lot more people on the job, and we will continue that,” he said.

Meanwhile, contact tracers in the Galway office have been asked by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Affairs to undertake call-based work for a number of months relating to the Government’s response to those arriving from Ukraine.

Damien McCallion, HSE lead for test and trace and vaccination, thanked the contact-tracing staff for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“For over two years, contract tracing was a critical part of breaking the chain of transmission and keeping communities safe,” he said. “The agility and adaptability of our contact-tracing teams was incredible as they responded to multiple surges, new variants, regular changes in public health advice, the introduction of antigen testing, and the implementation of various IT processes.”