'Tens of thousands' of passports waiting to be processed

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed there is a backlog of tens of thousands of passports waiting to be processed.

There are long queues outside the Passport Office in Dublin this afternoon because of the backlog.

It is currently taking up to 20 working days to get a passport application processed.

Staff at passport offices, who are members of the CPSU, have engaged in industrial action and will not be answering phones this afternoon.

Last Friday, there were angry scenes at the Dublin passport office after staff closed the hatches on members of the public who had been queueing.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he hopes the ongoing discussions with unions will help to resolve the situation:

"We have been very anxious to ensure that the public continue to have the services that they are paying for," Mr Cowen said.

"In the meantime there are some discussions taking place through third-party facilitation, which are continuing."