Motor tax offices, the Garda fines office and licensing authorities are bracing themselves for a postal flood of renewals, fines and registrations as An Post services begin to return to normal.
Thousands of tax discs, including 8,000 due to be sent out under the new online system, have not been posted and many renewals have not been received. In addition, postal payments of on-the-spot fines slowed substantially at the Garda fines office in the past two weeks.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said roughly 20,000 items had been held back by the Vehicle Licensing section in Shannon due to the dispute. This includes about 8,000 online tax renewals and about 12,000 "change-of-owner" and registrations.
Dublin City Council's motor tax office agreed to stagger its backlog so as not to "flood" the system, one official said. After discussions with An Post, the tax office agreed to post 5,000 of held-back items on Monday and another 5,000 yesterday.
Ms Maire Igoe of the tax office said public counters were busier than normal. She urged people to be patient as staff clear the backlog. It's estimated that from 8,000 to 11,000 items, mainly tax renewals, haven't reached the office due to the dispute.