After the Registry and Notary Workers' Union (STRN) reported at the end of July that computer constraints persisted, affecting the issuance of urgent documents such as the Portuguese Electronic Passport (PEP) during the holiday period, the IRN responded to Lusa, confirming that "the passport issuance system is operational."

According to the IRN, 46,971 passport applications were received nationwide in July.

"During the summer months, it is common to see an increase in demand for passport services, and in the last weeks of July, during peak periods, the passport issuance system experienced some slowdowns, which specifically affected user service times and service responsiveness," the institute said.

The IRN also stated that it has "a technical team dedicated to monitoring the system to ensure service stability."

The union had reported that "registry offices such as those in Arruda dos Vinhos and Caldas da Rainha reported critical system malfunctions," reflecting "a reality across the country."

According to the STRN, the "technological failures," which "severely affect the issuance of urgent documents, such as the PEP," are even more pronounced "during this critical holiday period" due to "increased demand" and a "shortage of human resources."

With this, the STRN reiterated, at the time, the call to the government to take "urgent measures to definitively resolve the IT problems", which, the union claimed, have been occurring for weeks.