AN EMERGENCY meeting of the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee will meet today to discuss the backlog of passport applications.
The head of the Passport Office Joe Nugent as well as senior Department of Foreign Affairs officials will appear before the committee “to try to find a way to solve the current passport impasse”
Last night Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin urged the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) to suspend industrial action at the Passport Office “in the interest of members of the public”.
“This is the only realistic way of clearing the backlog of applications in the system,” he said in a statement.
The Minister welcomed a proposal by the CPSU to offer emergency passports to people with immediate travel plans.
However, he said this move would not have any impact.
“Bringing more people to the public counters will not alleviate the problems being experienced at Molesworth Street. It would inevitably lead to more disappointment and misery,” he said.
Workers needed to go back to normal as peak holiday season approached, he said.
He also urged unions to allow 50 extra workers to be recruited to cater for seasonal demand.
“It is simply wrong to blame staff shortages for some of the current difficulties while blocking the recruitment of these extra workers,” he said.
Mr Martin said Department of Foreign Affairs management was available to meet unions about the Passport Office without precondition. Earlier, he said a talks process was under way between Government officials and public sector unions, and the logical decision was for the CPSU to suspend its action and engage in negotiations.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio, Mr Martin said the Government was “not in a position” to compensate those who had lost holidays due to passport delays. When asked about the non-delivery of a service for customers who purchased passport express, he said: “That is something we can look at . . . if there were contractual obligations entered into.”
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore welcomed the move by the union and hoped the backlog could be reduced.