WITH THE passport offices in Dublin and Cork expected to be closed again from this afternoon as a result of industrial action by civil servants, Fine Gael has called on the Government to negotiate an emergency mechanism to allow people to travel within the EU on expired documentation.
The Passport Office said last night that, as a result of industrial action, its offices in Cork and Molesworth Street in Dublin will close from 1pm today and reopen on Monday morning. Telephones in the offices will not be answered until 1pm.
The move forms part of the industrial action by members of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU), which represents lower-paid civil servants, in protest at pay cuts.
Fine Gael spokesman on foreign affairs Billy Timmins said last night “the current passport debacle” was preventing Irish citizens from travelling abroad as a result of the log-jam in the processing of applications. He said this was becoming increasingly intolerable and was affecting Ireland’s reputation abroad.
“The Minister must work to find a solution and should negotiate a mechanism at EU council level to allow Irish people to travel within the European Union at least,” said Mr Timmins.
“The situation regarding passport applications here has become ridiculous. People are being prevented from travelling abroad, which is completely intolerable, regardless of the ongoing industrial action,” he said.
“The Minister cannot simply shrug his shoulders at the problem. He can and should negotiate an emergency mechanism with other EU member states,through the European Council, whereby those with passports that are out of date since the beginning of 2010, can at least travel within the EU,” he said.
The industrial action is continuing in parallel with talks between public sector unions and Government representatives, which are dealing with “pay determination” and modernisation.
Yesterday, the talks dealt separately with local authorities, the Civil Service and education.
As part of the talks on local authorities, it is understood the Government is seeking significantly changed work practices among staff to allow councils to work more closely together in the provision of services.
Sources said the talks yesterday, the first dealing with local authorities as part of the current process, dealt mainly with proposals for reform discussed before Christmas. However, they said the establishment by the Government in the budget of a new efficiency review group for local authorities was also discussed.
The document drawn up in December highlights the need for rationalisation of services and delivery through shared service resources.
It also says there will be “a substantial move to shared services for finance, payroll human resources and other activities.
It says it is intended that national agencies would engage local authorities in the delivery of services on their behalf.
The December document also proposes a comprehensive redeployment scheme for the sector.
“Extremely flexible redeployment arrangements must be viewed as the corollary to arrangements that do not provide for compulsory redundancy,” the December document states.
It is understood the Civil Service talks dealt with issues such as open recruitment, proposals to abolish privilege days at Easter and Christmas and work-life balance. A plenary meeting of the talks, originally mooted for today, has been rescheduled for Monday.