Industrial action by civil servants at the Passport Office has led to a backlog of more than 40,000 passport applications in the system, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has said.
Mr Martin today described the situation as unacceptable, claiming the action taken by civil servants had “brought misery to many people who simply wanted the State to provide them with travel documents”.
He said some people have travelled long distances to collect a passport only to find the service to the public be withdrawn with little or no notice.
Mr Martin called for the union to call off the industrial action and warned that staff may face disciplinary action and could have pay docked if the disruption continues.
"The current action is absolutely unnecessary and for will not help to progress anything or help to resolve any situation,” he said.
Staff at passport offices have been engaged in industrial action - including public office closures and bans on answering phones - as part of a campaign across the public service over pay cuts.
The action has led to the passport office suspending its guarantee of providing a passport within 10 working days and the department spokesman said it was now taking “between 18 to 20 working days” to secure a passport.
A letter has been sent to the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) warning that staff face having pay docked if they do not carry out their specified duties.
By lunchtime today, long queues had formed at the Passport Office in Molesworth Street with many people expressing anger and frustration that no contingency plan had been put in place to deal with the disruption.
Fiona Carr and her partner Liam Patton said they had spent four hours on a bus travelling from Co Donegal and had been queueing outside the office for almost two hours.
Ms Carr is due to fly to Tenerife tomorrow for a two-week holiday but remained “clueless” as to whether her passport, which she had applied for a month ago, would be processed in time.
She described the disruption as a “disgrace”, blaming the Government for not stepping in to sort out the “mess”.
Deirdre Maguire from Dublin, who is due to travel to Bristol next month, likened the scenes those experienced in third world countries. “Nobody is even organising the queue,” she said.
While she had sympathies with civil servants, Ms Maguire expressed her anger that no measures had been put in place to deal with the processing backlog.
She also complained there was no communication with the public from inside the office and nobody knew what to expect.
Darren Cran from Sandymount, who is due to fly on Saturday, said the industrial action was unjustified, saying he could not understand how people who had guaranteed jobs for life could be striking in the current economic climate.
Tim and Geraldine Giblin, who had travelled from Co Mayo this morning to get a passport for their daughter, said they had been told by An Post that its Passport Express service would take at least 20 days - more than double the normal processing time - and they could not risk the wait.
They both expressed frustration with the Government for not taking measures to tackle the problem, claiming it was “turning its back on everybody”.
Fidelma McGuirk from Swords said she had sent in a passport application for her two-month son at the beginning of the month that should had been processed last week.
Ms McGuirk said she was due to fly on Sunday and had been forced to get someone to mind her son while she tried to secure a passport for him.
Fine Gael said it was "intolerable" that hundreds of people had been left queuing today for a document to which they were constitutionally entitled too.
"The Minister must act and do so without further delay, with 40,000 passport application in the current backlog, the situation is now critical,” said the party's spokesman for Foreign Affairs Billy Timmins.
Elsewhere, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore called for the suspension of industrial action, due to the disruption it was causing individuals.
"I full understand the anger of low-paid public sector workers who have had their salaries unilaterally cut twice during the past twelve months, but those who are suffering as a result of action now being taken are not responsible for these pay cuts," he said.
"This action has caused no inconvenience for Fianna Fáil itself and it may well be a political plus for them because of the public reaction it is provoking," he added.