Leaving passport applications until last minute

[Romulan]

How many of the people queing for passports have left it to the last minute for no good reason?

I know many other countries will not entertain "emergency" applications that are clearly nothing of the sort.

You won't hear anyone on Liveline saying that they booked the holiday 6 months ago but never bothered to check their passport.

Now its someone else's fault.

 

[Caveat]

Now its someone else's fault.

It is. Employees of the passport office and their union.

Look, of course it's foolish leaving it to the last minute but that's their business. There will always be people like this.

That the majority of these people are not getting satisfaction simply is the fault of the office. In less unusual times these people would have been provided with service and now many of them are not.
No spokesperson or employee can pontificate or take the sensible high ground on this - it's none of their business.

 

[Sunny]

Especially when they offer a service called passport express where you are supposed to get your passport within 10 days.

 

[sam h]

But most of these people did not leave it to the last minute - they applied by Passport express and so expected it back within 10 working days. They'd probably wan tto leave a few extra days to allow for a prblem with photos etc.

My passport (& the kids) expired last August, but I wasn't flying anywhere so I left it until the new year. The main reason I left it was that I didn't want all the passports to be expiring mid summer & have some concern down the road.

Had an inkling I might be going somewhere at the start of March, so applied at the start of Feb - luckily I got in before the rush & WTR (not that I needed it as it happened!!), but it still took 13/14 working days for them to come back. Some people have now been waiting since mid Feb (about 25 working days)

There is also situations where people are using their passports & have to apply in a tight time frame between returning from one trip & going on another. (luckily they are now allowing people to apply & just submit a copy of their current passport).

Also there were people who did not expect to be going anywhere (there was some young fella got a place on some Irish team, but had to fly out this week - no joy). There are the real "last minute" applicants

I would say the number of real "last minute" applicant is on the low side - most are people who did not anticipate that the 10 working day turnaround would spin out so far.

 

[huskerdu]

I agree that I have no sympathy with people needing an passport in the hurry because they didn;t bother to check if their passport was out of date, but as has been said before, many people applied for passport express and are waiting a lot more than 10 days.

 

[carpedeum]

We are seeing the worst of people in their behaviour too. Look at this chancer who applied for a passport on 11th March for his brother's wedding! Not exactly an emergency or life threathening! His relatives are currently mouthing off on the PK Show!

From the RTE.IE news site:

"A 34-year-old Co Wicklow man has chained himself to internal doors in the Passport Office in Dublin.
Colin Gillick said he starting queuing at 10.30pm last night hoping to get his passport to travel to Thailand next Monday morning.
He applied for the passport on the 11 March and was told this morning it had not yet been processed."

 

[shnaek]

I agree that I have no sympathy with people needing an passport in the hurry because they didn;t bother to check if their passport was out of date, but as has been said before, many people applied for passport express and are waiting a lot more than 10 days.

What about someone who was told a couple days in advance that they must travel abroad for business?

Either way, we shouldn't be making excuses for people who aren't doing their job. We should only accept the best.

 

[Staples]

I have it on reasonably good authority that the problems in the passport office are to do with the suden rush of people who think that if they don't act now, they've no chance. Their actions are equivalent to a "run" on a bank that people fear is going out of business and taking their money with them.

What hasn't been made clear in the media is that the only service being withdrawn is the counter service. If people apply (or have applied) for their passports in the normal way, they will still be issued (perhaps a little later than might otherwise have been the case).

While people might be justified in worrying that they won't receive their passport in good time, it's the sudden and panic-driven rush on the office that's causing difficulties for those who may genuinely need last minute assistance.

 

[Staples]

What about someone who was told a couple days in advance that they must travel abroad for business?

Why should a lack of reasonable foresight on the part of an individual become the responsibilty of the passport office to resolve?

 

[Caveat]

What hasn't been made clear in the media is that the only service being withdrawn is the counter service. If people apply (or have applied) for their passports in the normal way, they will still be issued (perhaps a little later than might otherwise have been the case).

Yes, I agree that this is not always clear.

However this may be irrelevant soon if an all out strike goes ahead.

Why should a lack of reasonable foresight on the part of an individual become the responsibilty of the passport office to resolve?

Are you a politician?

Nobody is expecting the office to assume responsibility - just to do their jobs in the manner to which the public have become accustomed.

 

[dodo]

Most people order new passport in plenty of time ,even so if they leave it with 3 weeks to expire then that is also fine as the quick express option allows for that,and if those useless people had been doing their job they get paid to much for it the first place then this would not be on liveline,
The fault is not with people leaving till late it is with the worker in the pass port department,
those civil service worker had no idea of the real world never had to do an honest days work in their lives, most work about 36 hrs and week take away their breaks then they work less than 30 hours, over paid great pension sick as long as you want,
any one says anything to upset them and the union is called in, My wife is a civil servant so I know what I am talking about, she was told to take sicks and when she refused saying she was not actually sick they could not believe why she would not go sick, think about the that madness for a minute, she there over 12 yrs and sick once most however have missed at least 10 days a year, they are extra holidays to them, on top of that holidays is around 28-32 days a year, think about the madness for a minute

 

[shnaek]

Why should a lack of reasonable foresight on the part of an individual become the responsibilty of the passport office to resolve?

Clearly you've never worked in a company which does business with foreign entities.

As for responsibilty in the passport office - is it not their responsibility to do their job to the best of their ability? Nobody is asking for wizardry here - just for people to do their job.

 

[tiger]

Change of topic slightly, but I do think there is a bit of a "bank run" mentatlity at the moment.
My passport expires in Oct. While I have no travel plans I do want a valid passport. For some countries you need at least 6mths left so I was thinking about changing it. Now I'm not sure; do I send it off into a "passport express blackhole" and risk being without a passport for a couple of months, or do I wait for a couple of months for this & the backlog to clear, and hope no unexpected travel comes up...

 

[Staples]

Clearly you've never worked in a company which does business with foreign entities.

If I did, I'd take extra care to ensure my passport was up to date without the requirement to make an 11th hour run to Molesworth Street.

 

[RonanC]

Most people order new passport in plenty of time ,even so if they leave it with 3 weeks to expire then that is also fine as the quick express option allows for that,and if those useless people had been doing their job they get paid to much for it the first place then this would not be on liveline,
The fault is not with people leaving till late it is with the worker in the pass port department,
those civil service worker had no idea of the real world never had to do an honest days work in their lives, most work about 36 hrs and week take away their breaks then they work less than 30 hours, over paid great pension sick as long as you want,
any one says anything to upset them and the union is called in, My wife is a civil servant so I know what I am talking about, she was told to take sicks and when she refused saying she was not actually sick they could not believe why she would not go sick, think about the that madness for a minute, she there over 12 yrs and sick once most however have missed at least 10 days a year, they are extra holidays to them, on top of that holidays is around 28-32 days a year, think about the madness for a minute

Pure and utter rubbish

 

[Staples]

Nobody is expecting the office to assume responsibility - just to do their jobs in the manner to which the public have become accustomed.

This is at the hub of it. The public, perhaps unreasonably, have become accustomed to a service that accomodates last minute applications and people therefore don't see a necessity to take personal responsibility for their own affairs. That this accommodation, which in my opinion has always been unreasonably relied upon, has now been effectively challenged is what people are up in arms about.

The actions taken by the CPSU staff are no differnt from those taken by their counterparts in other government departments. There's no rationale for docking passport office workers' pay without doing the same for all departments and if that happens, it's a declaration of war.

 

[Caveat]

But c'mon - this is Ireland not Germany or Japan. Many, many things are done in this manner. Nods, winks, accepted behaviour/attitudes etc - everything from doctors waiving certain charges to friends of friends putting a word in so that your phone gets connected more expediently etc etc

Are you telling me that most of the posters on this site and staff at the passport office don't regularly avail of services (be they private or public) in this country that operate in an unconventional manner?

 

[Staples]

But c'mon - this is Ireland not Germany or Japan. Many, many things are done in this manner. Nods, winks, accepted behaviour/attitudes etc - everything from doctors waiving certain charges to friends of friends putting a word in so that your phone gets connected more expediently etc etc

Are you telling me that most of the posters on this site and staff at the passport office don't regularly avail of services (be they private or public) in this country that operate in an unconventional manner?

Perhaps they do. My point is that the Passport Office provided a fairly high standard of service relative to that which might have reasonably expected. That it's now being stepped back is discomforting for many but it doesn't necessarily mean they're not providing a (still) reasonable of service. As I mentioned earlier, demand has peaked out of panic and this is making a bad situation worse.

 

[Phibbleberry]

Now I'm not sure; do I send it off into a "passport express blackhole" and risk being without a passport for a couple of months, or do I wait for a couple of months for this & the backlog to clear, and hope no unexpected travel comes up...

Hi Tiger,

Apparently if you send in a photocopy of the required page of your passport, this will suffice. It means that you can keep your passport, should you need it, but also have a renewal on order. I'd probably wait until the panic dies down, but at least when it does, you don't send off your current passport when you don't need to. I'd imagine there'll be a backlog for quite a few months beyond the industrial action, with anyone who has less than twelve mths left on their passport applying early 'just in case'.

http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=253

I heard a passport representitive mention this on the radio last night, but haven't checked the website myself.

HTH

 

[DB74]

If a service is offered (ie express passport etc etc) then it is wrong to blame people who want to use the service, irrespective of their reasons for doing so and/or their reasons for leaving it so late.