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The severe weather conditions caused by Storm Emma last week has impacted on the turnaround time for the issuing of Irish passports, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.
Offices in Dublin, Cork and Limerick were closed last Thursday and Friday on the advice of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group.
In a statement, the department said the Passport Service was “doing everything possible” to reduce current processing times and to assist people as far as possible that are travelling soon.
“Since Monday this week, the Dublin (Mount Street) and Cork office have offered appointments to more than 400 applicants to submit their application at the public counters, and these applicants will have their passports in good time for travel,” it said.
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“Also, the rapid renewal service, which offers appointments for a same day service, has processed applications for more than 45 people travelling today or tomorrow.”
The department said Passport Express service available through An Post’s network of post offices normally has an average turnaround time of three weeks for renewal applications.
However, this service had been most impacted by knock-on effects of the weather conditions and the department had “directed all available resources in order to get the Passport Service back on track as soon as possible”.
It advised any adult applicant renewing their passport to do so online.
“This service is fast, secure and in most cases the new passport will be with the applicant in less than two weeks.
"In fact at the moment despite the difficulties caused by storm Emma, for about half our online applicants in Ireland, the turnaround is less than a week," the department added.
It said that for security and data protection reasons, anyone making enquiries on social media should not post personal information about their application.