The Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU) today said it would amend its industrial action to allow immediate travel be considered eligible for emergency passport provision.
The news follows angry scenes and lenghty delays as several hundred people due to travel abroad in the coming days queued for a passport on Dublin's Molesworth St today.
Ongoing industrial action by members of the CPSU over public service pay cuts has led to a backlog of more than 40,000 passport applications, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The union said: "Currently only bereavement and illness qualify for emergency provision".
In a statement, the union said it was also proposing that the current lengthy queues at the Dublin Passport Office in Molesworth Street be proactively managed to identify and prioritise those with such immediate travel needs.
CPSU assistant general secretary, Theresa Dwyer said "the counter closures are not the cause of the problem as backlogs are in fact worked on during those times rather it's the cumulative effect of ten weeks of industrial action before the Government agreed to enter talks".
"It was primarily the overtime ban and staff shortages that created the backlog "she added.
The Passport Office in Dublin's Molesworth Street reopened this afternoon after a security alert that led to the evacuation of the building was declared a hoax.
Approximately 50 to 60 people were evacuated from the building shortly before lunchtime.
Following the evacuation a section of this group started chanting: "What do we want? We want our passports now."
Molesworth Street, which had been temporarily closed to traffic, has reopened.
The Government yesterday warned staff they face having pay docked if they do not carry out their specified duties.
Calling for a suspension of the current industrial action, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said pay would be stopped immediately if the protest did not end.
“A letter has been issued to the union, the Civil Public and Services Union, basically saying that staff who refuse to carry out a duty of their grade, including a duty for which they were rostered, will not be paid for the period when they refuse to carry it out even if they are carrying out other duties,” Mr Martin told reporters in Brussels last night.
Speaking this morning, the Minister described the situation at the passport office was "unacceptable," adding it was "heaping misery on people across the board".
Mr Martin said the "logical decision" now should be for the CPSU to suspend its action.
Mr Martin said the dispute should be addressed within the broader industrial-relations framework of talks that are ongoing between the unions and Government.
He refused to be drawn on whether people who had used the express passport application system could seek financial restitution but said it was an issue that would have to be examined.
In the queue this morning was Arran Greene, who had travelled from Co Galway, leaving at 6am to renew his passport for his J1 visa.
The University of Limerick student, who is hoping to travel to Chicago on June 2nd said: “My passport runs out in July but it has to be 12 months in date for the States”.
Noreen Tierney from Castlebar, Co Mayo, was also in the queue, having left her home at 4am to travel to Dublin.
"My passport isn't out of date but I was told to renew it for six months more. I'm going to San Francisco on Tuesday so I applied for a new passport in early February. It was supposed to be processed and ready to go on March 11th, but I still haven't heard anything," she said.
Deirdre Keogh from Ratoath, Co Meath, said she had been queuing for a passport for her son since 6.50am.
"I just discovered my son's passport is out of date and he's due to go on a school trip to Italy on Thursday," she said.
Paula Hicks who is due to go to Zurich on a business trip on Thursday morning was also queuing.
"I applied for a new passport on March 8th via passport express, which is only supposed to take 10 days. I don't feel very hopeful, but it’s not the worst case scenario. I really feel for all those families who paid their hard earned cash to go on holidays and now they can't," she said.
Speaking earlier today, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore echoed Mr Martin's words. Calling for a suspension of the action, Mr Gilmore told RTÉ the Government should engage in "meaningful talks" with the union to discuss their concerns over public service pay cuts.
The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) also called for action to end the dispute and clear the backlog.
ITAA chief executive Simon Nugent also urged Ryanair to temporarily suspend its “Passport only form of ID” rule for travel between Ireland and the UK. However, in a statement released this afternoon the no-frills airline said it had not plans to amend its ID rules.
The airline said: "It's the Government’s job to issue passports, and not Ryanair's job to cover for Government incompetence".
Yesterday, there was a second day of chaotic and sometimes angry scenes at the Passport Office on Molesworth Street where long queues formed of people seeking to get passports.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said a backlog of 40,000 passport applications had built up as a result of industrial action and that the turnaround time for the processing of applications had increased from 10 working days to between 18 and 20 working days.
Mr Martin said talks under way with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions were the proper forum for a resolution of the ongoing dispute.