Passport offices in Dublin and Cork are set to extend their opening hours in a bid to keep up with demand.
It comes after January recorded the highest ever number for applications at about 138,000.
As reported in The Irish Times, while renewals are often being turned around in 48 hours, those applying for their first passports are currently waiting up to 40 working days.
Some 1.7 million passport applications are expected to be made in the coming months as people book holidays.
Extra overtime is to be made available to staff as passport offices could end up operating seven days a week.
Fine Gael Senator Garrett Ahearn said he has been given assurances of the measures by Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan.
"He said from this week on they are going to increase overtime which gives the possibility to go to seven days a week," Mr Ahearn told Beat News.
"This actually helps the industry, an industry that has been flattened for the last two years.
"We want people to be able to take that opportunity to support these industries, but to do that the passport office needs to deliver [passports] as quickly as possible, which they do in the vast majority of cases."
