Passport Office strike

D8Lady said:
Was there at lunchtime. Apparently there's a bomb scare now & the passport office has been evacuated.
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:rolleyes: Hmmm.

Call me cynical but floods? bombs? Does any of this strike anyone as a bit fishy?

What's next - an outbreak of the plague?
 
To give people here some hope, I got my passport through on Saturday.

The status changed to "Approved" on Tuesday 16th (9 working days after submission) and then "Posted" on Thursday 18th. It arrived on Saturday 20th. I live in England so it had to go via the Irish Embassy in London so I'm sure those in Ireland will be quicker. I also had St Patrick's Day between the Approval and Posting dates to slow things down.

In short, I got my passport 12 working days after submitting it at the counter at the Irish Embassy in London (usual turnaround is 10 working days). I hope and that you all get your passports through in time for your trips.
 
Just wondering did you have to send your old passport off too? Considering there is such a backlog would it be possible to keep your old one until expiry?
 
From RTE news

"The Union said it was prepared to extend the grounds for emergency passport provision beyond bereavement and illness to include immediate travel deadlines.

It also proposes more proactive measures to manage queues and prioritise those with immediate travel needs."

So looks like they've copped on a little bit...just a very little bit.
 
All I can say is that the sandwich and tea sellers are doing very well from the strike.
 
They don't seem to be too over worked. There was a retired worker on the Moan to Joe show saying it took 3 to 4 minutes to do a passport and they had to meet a quota of 40 a day. Even with tea breaks that not much more than 3 hours of work a day. It is amazing that the passport office is one of the few government departments that actually makes a profit! Later on Drivetime they had on a poor 27 year old union activist/worker who was complaining that his mortgage was €1,460(?) while his pay was €1,600, I wish I had his parents. More importantly, who gave him a mortgage [that high] and what tall tales were told to the bank? What is going to happen to all these people when interest rates rise up to a norm of 5 to 6% etc? Just wait until NAMA II is in full swing and the IMF gets called in.
 
Who needs the passport office. Has anyone tried the Israeli embassy, or have they stopped issuing Irish passports altogether?
 
Got my son's passport yesterday.
Here's the timeline if it will help anyone:
27th Feb handed in at post office by passport express.
Tracked on line (the number is on your passport express receipt).
Received by passport office 02 march
'being checked' from then until 19th march with status updated twice.
Approved 19th march
posted 22 march
received (dublin) 23rd march.
 
Towger said:
They don't seem to be too over worked. There was a retired worker on the Moan to Joe show saying it took 3 to 4 minutes to do a passport and they had to meet a quota of 40 a day. Even with tea breaks that not much more than 3 hours of work a day. It is amazing that the passport office is one of the few government departments that actually makes a profit! Later on Drivetime they had on a poor 27 year old union activist/worker who was complaining that his mortgage was €1,460(?) while his pay was €1,600, I wish I had his parents. More importantly, who gave him a mortgage [that high] and what tall tales were told to the bank? What is going to happen to all these people when interest rates rise up to a norm of 5 to 6% etc? Just wait until NAMA II is in full swing and the IMF gets called in.
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That was someone who worked there 30 years ago............i'd say things have changed slightly.
 
would think it would take longer than 3/4 minutes with all the paper work and checks they have to do including checking pictures for new regulations and isn't it all scanned in now too.
 
Someone has told me that passport express has been completely postponed now.

Can anyome confirm?
 
Caveat said:
Someone has told me that passport express has been completely postponed now.

Can anyome confirm?
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My wife has just sent me this statement that she saw on their website. We have one of our children's application sent in by post but it has not been received yet so a bit worried.

Passport Application Tracking

It is no longer possible to guarantee a turnaround time for the issuing of passports. Projected turnaround times for the issuing of passports will be posted on this website.

The 10 day guarantee for receipt of applications submitted through the Passport Express service provided by An Post and the Royal Mail is suspended until further notice.

Passports received through these services will be processed on a first come first served basis. Applications submitted by Passport Express are currently being processed between 10 and 15 days of receipt.

It will not be possible to fast-track any application other than in a case of genuine family emergency, in which case proof will be required that travel is necessitated by the death, illness or welfare of a family member. The issuing of passports in such emergencies is not affected by the industrial dispute.
 
One of the TV news shows last night mentioned that things were running swimmingly at the Cork office. Would anyone in urgent need be better off hopping on a train to Cork for the day?
 
Complainer said:
One of the TV news shows last night mentioned that things were running swimmingly at the Cork office. Would anyone in urgent need be better off hopping on a train to Cork for the day?
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One of my colleagues has just told me that.
Are they not on WTR also though?
 
Thanks for that Shawady - I was aware that the 10 day guarantee was out the window alright. It seems then that there have been no new changes there. When did you send your app. and was it by express?
 
I thought the passport office in Cork only covered certain counties.

Yes they are on a WTR.
 
Caveat said:
Thanks for that Shawady - I was aware that the 10 day guarantee was out the window alright. It seems then that there have been no new changes there. When did you send your app. and was it by express?
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Sent it in by express post earlier this week but it is not received yet. We are travelling in 4 weeks time so hopefully once it is received it will be processed.

Saw cheap flights to Palma with Ryanair last week and booked our holiday a bit earlier this year to save a bit of money. It was only over the weekend I realised one of the kids passport is out of date next month.
 
Posted my applications on 3rd March via An Post Express system and got passports this morning so would appear to be about 3wk wait.
 
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