Report: Passport office overtime bill soars

New figures show overtime payments at the passport office have soared this year.

Up to the middle of last month, €1.74m had been paid so far this year to staff on top of their basic wages. That compares with less than €850,000 for all of last year.

Much of the overtime arose as staff worked to clear a backlog of nearly 71,000 applications that built up during a six-month long industrial dispute - however the union involved has insisted a number of factors are behind the jump in overtime.

The figures are contained in today's Irish Independent.