Passports dispute - Services sabotaged

THE dispute at the passports office is provocative and disruptive.

Though the majority of the 40,000 people caught up in the union-instigated deadlock need passports to go on holiday very many are business people who need their passports to do their jobs.

In the middle of the greatest economic crisis ever to hit this Republic, anything that jeopardises jobs cannot be tolerated. If business people cannot meet their clients then jobs are in jeopardy.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin promised yesterday that “there will be action taken” in relation to the closure of the Passport Office on Friday. He said he was “extremely disappointed” by the action and that it was “absolutely unacceptable”.

There is too a sinister suggestion that repairs to two out of three vital machines are being delayed because of the dispute thereby lengthening delays even further.

The people causing this chaos are on full pay and maybe they should take a moment to consider how long more that situation can continue if they continue to sabotage services.