Passport Office Antics

A Country Voice

So I've just seen on the news a report on this protest at the passport office in dublin.
1 poor guy was told during the week by one of the staff in there to come back at 4pm today to collect his passport.
When he arrived at 3:45pm the office was locked as the staff had decided to stop serving the public counters at 1pm, and not to answer phones from 9am to 1pm.
He was due to go on a rugby tour tomorrow morning around 6am and now can't go.
If I was him I'd bring the government to court.
Make it the small claims court. It would only cost him 15 euros and he could sue them for damages up to 2000 euro. If I was him I'd go for a tidy 1,999 euro for pain and suffering and hardship, along with his cancelled flights hotels etc.
Who do these staff think they are?
They should be immediately sacked for not doing their jobs and people who are willing to work should be hired.
I'd love a job in the passport office.
I wouldn't join a union.
If the rest of the staff went on strike I wouldn't, I'd proudly march past them to my job. Proud to have a job at all these days. I'd even go so far as to offer the government my services in the passport office for 1000 euro less than the muppets in there at the moment are getting per year.
The minister for foreign affairs should be advertising the jobs of the striking workers in the passport office tommorrow.
Theres a rant for ye ha ha
A Country Voice

wizardman

i know its mad, how do they get away with it? all they have to do is clock in do nothing go on strike and they get paid! any local social welfare office never answers phone cos thery're 'too busy' its your job to answers phones!
why not assign people to just answer phone and others deal with people who come into the office.
so annoying the public sector workers, i know people who worked in the private and went to the public and say its a absolute joke.

Jip

It's not the government that he needs to sue, it's the union that told the staff not to fulfil their dutys, the CPSU I think in this case.

rightwingdub

Is this the start of the peaceful counter revolution against the antics that the public sector unions are engaging in? We need more sit down protests in public offices.:D:D

Ms Happy

wizardman wrote: »

all they have to do is clock in do nothing go on strike and they get paid!

They don't get paid while on strike

Leinstersqspur

Ms Happy wrote: »

They don't get paid while on strike

You will find that they do get paid as they are not on official strike notice, they are engaging in industrial action known as 'work to rule' which entitles them to fair pay. However, although they are engaging in work to rule they are not carrying out any of their basic duties.

I have spent 3 out of 5 days of this working week in the passport office as we are due to fly out tomorrow morning but my 10yr old nephew has not been issued his passport, there are eleven of us going and he will now have to stay at home because the passport clerks refuse to carry out even the basic of services.

Did you know that the Irish constituition provides every citizen with the right the travel within the state and the right tp obtain a passport to travel outside of Ireland. That is in text in the constituition.

People are saying the Gardai and Army can't strike as it is in the constituition yet no reference is being made to this debacle unfolding in Molesworth St.

The country is being run into the ground by overpaid, underworked top civil servants and union leaders at the expense of the rest of the nation. There are approximately 400,000 people who would be grateful for a job in the passport office being paid 2004 wages. Minister Martin should have a bit of backbone and start sacking people! Unfortunately he's still on the St Patricks Day paddywagon in the US. The country is a joke!!

mal1

Ms Happy wrote: »

They don't get paid while on strike

Yeap, you're wrong on that one. they will be getting paid for all the antics this week. But RTE news has said that the government will be looking into this. Hopefully they will be sacked

Ms Happy

mal1 wrote: »

Yeap, you're wrong on that one. they will be getting paid for all the antics this week. But RTE news has said that the government will be looking into this. Hopefully they will be sacked

will you please read what i said. "they don't get paid while on strike"

taibhse1966

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

I have spent 3 out of 5 days of this working week in the passport office as we are due to fly out tomorrow morning but my 10yr old nephew has not been issued his passport, there are eleven of us going and he will now have to stay at home because the passport clerks refuse to carry out even the basic of services.

thats horrible the poor little kid - they really are a shower of wasters, what exactly are they trying to achieve with this bull****?
:mad:

A Country Voice

A Country Voice wrote: »

Who do these staff think they are?
They should be immediately sacked for not doing their jobs and people who are willing to work should be hired.
I'd love a job in the passport office.
I wouldn't join a union.
If the rest of the staff went on strike I wouldn't, I'd proudly march past them to my job. Proud to have a job at all these days. I'd even go so far as to offer the government my services in the passport office for 1000 euro less than the muppets in there at the moment are getting per year.
The minister for foreign affairs should be advertising the jobs of the striking workers in the passport office tommorrow.
Theres a rant for ye ha ha
A Country Voice

I would most certainly apply.

Ordinary man

The government needs to do an Aer Lingus on then and sack the lot.

stepbar

What's even worse is that the unions fully expect recent paycuts to be reversed. What planet are they living on?

Jip

Ms Happy wrote: »

will you please read what i said. "they don't get paid while on strike"

The point is that they're not on strike but work to rule as has been said and they are getting paid at the moment.

silverharp

rightwingdub wrote: »

Is this the start of the peaceful counter revolution against the antics that the public sector unions are engaging in? We need more sit down protests in public offices.:D:D

my thoughts too, made me smile, The threat of strike is more powerful then actually using it. The public wont be supporting the PS and wont be looking for the gov. to back down ( I hope!).

A Country Voice

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

You will find that they do get paid as they are not on official strike notice, they are engaging in industrial action known as 'work to rule' which entitles them to fair pay. However, although they are engaging in work to rule they are not carrying out any of their basic duties.

I have spent 3 out of 5 days of this working week in the passport office as we are due to fly out tomorrow morning but my 10yr old nephew has not been issued his passport, there are eleven of us going and he will now have to stay at home because the passport clerks refuse to carry out even the basic of services.

Did you know that the Irish constituition provides every citizen with the right the travel within the state and the right tp obtain a passport to travel outside of Ireland. That is in text in the constituition.

People are saying the Gardai and Army can't strike as it is in the constituition yet no reference is being made to this debacle unfolding in Molesworth St.

The country is being run into the ground by overpaid, underworked top civil servants and union leaders at the expense of the rest of the nation. There are approximately 400,000 people who would be grateful for a job in the passport office being paid 2004 wages. Minister Martin should have a bit of backbone and start sacking people! Unfortunately he's still on the St Patricks Day paddywagon in the US. The country is a joke!!

Well thats a cast iron lawsuit isnt it. Denying a 10 year old his constitutional rights!!! I wouldn't go with the small claims court for that one, I'd go bigger
Picture a judge asking a weeping 10 year old child how he was so badly hurt by the nasty people in the passport office. I'd say you'd get a six figure sum at least!!!! Seriously though, thats actually disgusting that these "unions" treat people in this way. Michaél Martin needs to get in there with a new broom and clear out all the deadwood. If they want a job they're going to have to work for their pay, reduced as it is, but hey, tough sh*t, get over it.
Or else get out and let somone in there who's willing to work!!!
A Country Voice
Ps I'm sure you've been investigating your options Leinstersqspur, but if you contact foreign affairs can some emergency passport be arranged for the kid?
Surely someone somewhere has a bit of cop on?

clarewoman

why do people leave appling for passport so late.

A Country Voice

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

Did you know that the Irish constituition provides every citizen with the right the travel within the state and the right tp obtain a passport to travel outside of Ireland. That is in text in the constituition.

People are saying the Gardai and Army can't strike as it is in the constituition yet no reference is being made to this debacle unfolding in Molesworth St.

I can't find that in the constitution anywhere?
Which article do you know?
A Country Voice

A Country Voice

clarewoman wrote: »

why do people leave appling for passport so late.

They don't
You can post in your application 3 months beforehand.
They decide they don't like the look of a perfectly good photo and send it all back to you after a month.
You get new photos and send them in again.
Then you hear nothing.
They're only working half days remember!!
You decide to ring them to find out if theres something wrong, they dont answer the phone.

So you finally decide to go in their and see whats wrong.
The door is locked in your face.
The whole lot of them should be sacked
There should be an ad in the paper tomorrow for applicants for their jobs.
They can "work" out their notice while their replacements are being interviewed and selected.
Then bye bye to them.

A Country Voice

dredg

clarewoman wrote: »

why do people leave appling for passport so late.

Because some countries have crazy rules about passport validity. I'm going on holiday next month and I only applied for a passport renewal today. My old passport is valid until August of this year, but I only found out that one of the countries I'm going to only accepts passports that are valid for at least 6 months.

Pete4779

What sort of morons leave it until the day before travelling to get a new passport?

Common sense and most countries regulations say that if you have a passport that expires withing 6 months - the time usually at most available on tourist visas (yes EU included, you need to register if staying> 3 months) - you should get a replacement.

forward planning is obviously a big issue with people. Unless you have a family emergency, your football match and out of date passport is not cause for suing people who are , literally, doing their job: 4-6 weeks for a passport.

A Country Voice

Pete4779 wrote: »

people who are , literally, doing their job: 4-6 weeks for a passport.

Doing their job?
When were they given a half day today?
They decided to close themselves I think???
Thats not what I'd call people doing their job!!!

A Country Voice

Leinstersqspur

With all due respect we 'morons' do not leave it till the last day to apply for passports. The application was forwarded passport express (additional charges 'guaranteed' 10-15 day turnaround) three weeks ago only to be told last week that the express service cannot commit to the official turnaround times. We were told it would be ready for collection either Thursday or Friday but after queueing from the early morning on both occasions to get in the door we were told that the passport was in fact not ready. Death or family illness only.

We are going on a family holiday, not to a football match and your comments are unwarranted, in fact you should be ashamed of yourself. Your tone suggests that you sympatise with people receiving payment for employment although providing no service. I would not expect my employer to pay me if I did not perform my obligations. The Public Disservice!

Leinstersqspur

A Country Voice wrote: »

I can't find that in the constitution anywhere?
Which article do you know?
A Country Voice

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/government-in-ireland/irish-constitution-1/right_to_travel

Also, they closed the hatches at 1pm everyday. Take calls only after that time. I should tell my employer I want back the 20% pay cut I took earlier this year and that until I get it I am not answering the phone or receiving emails.... See how long I fare...

BlaasForRafa

Pete4779 wrote: »

What sort of morons leave it until the day before travelling to get a new passport?

Common sense and most countries regulations say that if you have a passport that expires withing 6 months - the time usually at most available on tourist visas (yes EU included, you need to register if staying> 3 months) - you should get a replacement.

forward planning is obviously a big issue with people. Unless you have a family emergency, your football match and out of date passport is not cause for suing people who are , literally, doing their job: 4-6 weeks for a passport.

You're completely missing the point of the thread, are you a public servant?

I'd love a clear explanation of how answering phones is not part of a public servants job, are they living in 1875 or something?

While public "servants" are engaged in this kind of activity they should be denied their wages and if they keep it up they should be denied their jobs and thrown onto the dole and replaced by someone who will do their job without this bizarre sense of privilege and entitlement that a lot of PS workers seem to have.

Cherrycola

They are an absolute joke and a disgrace!!!!

Work to rule my backside, since when does that include not doing your day to day duties, ie issuing passports to irish citizens? :mad::mad:

I am a civil servant, currently on career break waiting to be called back in to the sh*thole dept i work in, and i can tell you, i wouldnt be setting foot back in the place if it wasnt because i need the bloody job!
They are the laziest shower of hoors ive ever had to work with, and as far as overworked is concerned??! Dont make me f**kin laugh, go get a job in the real world, and then ye might know what overworked is!!:mad::mad:

Yes, there are sections within all depts that are understaffed, i worked in one a few years ago, and we literally were never off the phone answering calls, and thats no exaggeration i swear, i would end one call, only to have the phone ring again, and could always hear the beep of the call waiting while i was on a call, and as a result we got f*ck all other work done. But thats just really bad management, and deployment of staff. We were running around like headless chickens, while the gimps in the next section over were twiddling their thumbs and reading The Star!
The idiots running these sections are only managers because they have been promoted up through the ranks cos they've been festering in the service so long, they have no skills for the job!!
But those overworked depts are few and far between, the majority of civil servants are NOT overworked!

They should be grateful to have a job in the current climate, and take their bloody 10% paycut, and be glad its not a 100% paycut!

When i do get that call to return to that sh*thole, i will under no circumstances join the union, and if they strike, i will proudly walk past the shower of wasters and do my days work, safe in the knowledge that ive done my bit for the day!

Ad hopefully one day, i will be able to pack it in for good, and never have to feel that embarrassment of telling people where i work, again!

TJJP

'Pisstake' Office on Tuesday - no not Friday, last Tuesday morning. Three days later someone notices and the media decide to cover the issue. This should have been sorted week ago. Where’s the Department of Foreign Affairs ? ‘Oh it’s not us, passports are someone else’s business’… Typical pass the buck Ireland.

Do your job as a public servant, otherwise there's a 400,000 long queue just waiting for you to join it, I reckon!

Rant over.

bette

There is a lot of indignation on this thread.

• Now a passport is good for 10 years
• There are specific photo requirements that a passport photographer will respect. If you provide a DIY photo taken with a phone or by a know-all with a digi camera there is the risk that the photo will be rejected.
  
• If we all subjected ourselves to the recommendations that "they" should all be sacked and rehired a la Aer Lingus would we like that? We are assuming that "they" have no business interfering in our inefficiency (leaving the old passport go out of date) whilst not accepting that they are workers same as ourselves!
  
• Finally, if one is travelling to countries where they require a long passport pre expiry period surely some planning would have been done. Put the money aside, check passport, arrange for cats and dogs to be fed, apply to school for permission to take brats out of school etc...

Time to start organising one's life and stop relying on others.

AARRRRGH

I wonder are the people staging the sit in some of those who say "The public service do nothing anyway. Let them strike, sure we'd never notice"

Its only the start i reckon.

Same **** is going to happen in the Airport. A sit in in Waterford crystal or a bank has no effect. Wait til Aer Lingus cabin crew sit in at the airport and watch the carnage. Dont book flights would be my advice.

Soem traffic lights went on the blink last week and the guys supposed to fix them took over an hour to come out. It took me 1 hour to get from Phibsboro to santry. It was chaos. Wait til they all go on strike.

GSF

AARRRRGH wrote: »

I wonder are the people staging the sit in some of those who say "The public service do nothing anyway. Let them strike, sure we'd never notice"

Its only the start i reckon.

Same **** is going to happen in the Airport. A sit in in Waterford crystal or a bank has no effect. Wait til Aer Lingus cabin crew sit in at the airport and watch the carnage. Dont book flights would be my advice.

Soem traffic lights went on the blink last week and the guys supposed to fix them took over an hour to come out. It took me 1 hour to get from Phibsboro to santry. It was chaos. Wait til they all go on strike.

So we need to plan to be self reliant. Buy a bike, fly with Ryanair, etc.

danbohan

Pete4779 wrote: »

What sort of morons leave it until the day before travelling to get a new passport?

Common sense and most countries regulations say that if you have a passport that expires withing 6 months - the time usually at most available on tourist visas (yes EU included, you need to register if staying> 3 months) - you should get a replacement.

forward planning is obviously a big issue with people. Unless you have a family emergency, your football match and out of date passport is not cause for suing people who are , literally, doing their job: 4-6 weeks for a passport.

doing their job? crazy , but the real morons are a government that allows these people to do this , sack them all Monday morning , sack anybody in public service that goes on strike there are 450000 unemployed who will be happy to do the job and probably do it better

bette

danbohan wrote: »

doing their job? crazy , but the real morons are a government that allows these people to do this , sack them all Monday morning , sack anybody in public service that goes on strike there are 450000 unemployed who will be happy to do the job and probably do it better

Will you be starting on the guillotine build this weekend? Outrage of this degree of fury would only be appeased by mass beheadings.

laoisman11

bette wrote: »

There is a lot of indignation on this thread.

• Now a passport is good for 10 years
• There are specific photo requirements that a passport photographer will respect. If you provide a DIY photo taken with a phone or by a know-all with a digi camera there is the risk that the photo will be rejected.
  
• If we all subjected ourselves to the recommendations that "they" should all be sacked and rehired a la Aer Lingus would we like that? We are assuming that "they" have no business interfering in our inefficiency (leaving the old passport go out of date) whilst not accepting that they are workers same as ourselves!
  
• Finally, if one is travelling to countries where they require a long passport pre expiry period surely some planning would have been done. Put the money aside, check passport, arrange for cats and dogs to be fed, apply to school for permission to take brats out of school etc...

Time to start organising one's life and stop relying on others.

Bullet-pointed nonsense.

The posts above gave sufficient evidence that their lives were well organised and they had applied for their passports in plenty of time.

AARRRRGH

laoisman11 wrote: »

Bullet-pointed nonsense.

The posts above gave sufficient evidence that their lives were well organised and they had applied for their passports in plenty of time.

Not really. I am going away in May this year. My passport expires about a month before I go on my first work trip of 2010.

I actually got my passport renewed last October, when i hadnt any trips planned for a few months, even though it doesnt expire until end of April - instead of waiting until a few weeks before i actually need it. And remember there is a 6 month rule with a lot of countries too.

If they were organized they wouldnt have to be standing outside the passport office on the day they are travelling. Pure stupidity leaving your passport renewal so close to travel time.

bette

laoisman11 wrote: »

Bullet-pointed nonsense.

The posts above gave sufficient evidence that their lives were well organised and they had applied for their passports in plenty of time.

Obviously not, they did not get their passports. Silly comment...

AARRRRGH

Silverharp2 wrote: »

my thoughts too, made me smile, The threat of strike is more powerful then actually using it. The public wont be supporting the PS and wont be looking for the gov. to back down ( I hope!).

I didnt think the private sector was supporting the public sector anyway. My workmates are forever screaming murder about the public sector. I have to remind them that we get bonuses, annual pay rises, 24 days hols, sick pay, pension, phone too. But they dont let the facts get in the way of a good rant. Then they proceed to tell me about all the people who have got pay cuts. I say "name one". Then it turns out none of them can.

Im not surprised the public sector have decided to act. Its almost like they are the wicked witches of Ireland nowadays.
People complain that they do nothing and then when they actually do nothing ..... well read the thread.

yoshytoshy

Dermot ahern has absolutely no right to threaten the gardai with legal action ,when this carry on is allowed.

I'm work to rule at the moment myself ,the rule is I work for less.

JustinDee

AARRRRGH wrote: »

I didnt think the private sector was supporting the public sector anyway. My workmates are forever screaming murder about the public sector. I have to remind them that we get bonuses, annual pay rises, 24 days hols, sick pay, too. But they dont let the facts get in the way of a good rant. Then they proceed to tell me about all the people who have got pay cuts. I say "name one". Then it turns out none of them can

I'm not a public sector employee and I get 20 days annual leave, no bonus, pay my pension myself (currently on hold), pay my levies and have never had the delights of benchmarking ahead of market pay rates during the boom as some in the certain areas of the public service crying foul have done.

The term in itself, public sector, is way too broad to identify as a single demographic and certain unions capitalising on this misconception in order to emotionally blackmailing the country are disgraceful.

yoshytoshy

AARRRRGH wrote: »

I didnt think the private sector was supporting the public sector anyway. My workmates are forever screaming murder about the public sector. I have to remind them that we get bonuses, annual pay rises, 24 days hols, sick pay, pension, phone too. But they dont let the facts get in the way of a good rant. Then they proceed to tell me about all the people who have got pay cuts. I say "name one". Then it turns out none of them can.

Count yourself very ,very lucky.

I can think of one paticular guy who has to travel to england for work every week now. The company is one of the largest financial companies in the world.He got a paycut aswell.

I've taken a big paycut ,I know others who have lost their jobs ,so I'm not complaining.

When things were good in Ireland ,we got our cars washed and our grass cut by others. Now that things are getting harder we have to start doing it ourselves again.
A lot of public servants don't get this idea ,they still want their grass cut and their cars washed.

AARRRRGH

JustinDee wrote: »

I'm not a public sector employee and I get 20 days annual leave, no bonus, pay my pension myself (currently on hold), pay my levies and have never had the delights of benchmarking ahead of market pay rates during the boom as some in the certain areas of the public service crying foul have done.

The term in itself, public sector, is way too broad to identify as a single demographic and certain unions capitalising on this misconception in order to emotionally blackmailing the country are disgraceful.

You should get a job where you get your pension paid and more holidays. The better you are at the job the better the bargain you can make. Dont cry into your cornflakes just because others get it. Go out and get it for yourself.
Just like people crying that they left their passports too late. Its your own faults.

AARRRRGH

yoshytoshy wrote: »

Count yourself very ,very lucky.

I can think of one paticular guy who has to travel to england for work every week now. The company is one of the largest financial companies in the world.He got a paycut aswell.

I've taken a big paycut ,I know others who have lost their jobs ,so I'm not complaining.

When things were good in Ireland ,we got our cars washed and our grass cut by others. Now that things are getting harder we have to start doing it ourselves again.
A lot of public servants don't get this idea ,they still want their grass cut and their cars washed.

I have to travel for work too. But I asked for more money if they expected me to travel, and I got it.
Luck has nothing to do with it. If you want to sit back and take your cuts, be my guest. Thats why you are getting cuts. Go out and look around at other jobs. The reason people get cuts is they are so afraid of change that they sit there and take the cut, instead of looking around them.

I didnt know public sector workers got their grass cut and cars washed.

yoshytoshy

AARRRRGH wrote: »

I have to travel for work too. But I asked for more money if they expected me to travel, and I got it.
Luck has nothing to do with it. If you want to sit back and take your cuts, be my guest. Thats why you are getting cuts. Go out and look around at other jobs. The reason people get cuts is they are so afraid of change that they sit there and take the cut, instead of looking around them.
.

Your actually so lucky you don't realise it ,some of us have to take paycuts ,so that we can get work in.
Your living in a bubble if you think everyone can be as lucky as you.

laoisman11

AARRRRGH wrote: »

Not really. I am going away in May this year. My passport expires about a month before I go on my first work trip of 2010.

I actually got my passport renewed last October, when i hadnt any trips planned for a few months, even though it doesnt expire until end of April - instead of waiting until a few weeks before i actually need it. And remember there is a 6 month rule with a lot of countries too.

If they were organized they wouldnt have to be standing outside the passport office on the day they are travelling. Pure stupidity leaving your passport renewal so close to travel time.

bette wrote:

Obviously not, they did not get their passports. Silly comment...

Obviously ye didn't read the posts above, too busy being perfect :rolleyes:

alastair

bette wrote: »

Obviously not, they did not get their passports. Silly comment...

I think you're missing the point - they left perfectly adequate time to renew their passports - if the process takes X amount of time to complete, and you allow for that amount of time, then you haven't left it too late, you've been shafted by someone intentionally undermining the process.

The notion that you should do your christmas shopping in July on the basis that shops might start arbitrarily pulling their shutters in November is the silly comment tbh.

JustinDee

AARRRRGH wrote: »

You should get a job where you get your pension paid and more holidays. The better you are at the job the better the bargain you can make. Dont cry into your cornflakes just because others get it. Go out and get it for yourself.
Just like people crying that they left their passports too late. Its your own faults.

I'm absolutely fine in my job. I really enjoy it. Have minimal debt and live within my means.
My point was that I'm prepared to take the hits. Certain others aren't.
Not crying at all, fella. I don't begrudge people for what they get in life.
The fact that they want status exception from the current state of the economy makes it my problem however.
'I'm All Right, Jack' was bang on the button. Its not me "crying into my cornflakes".

bette

alastair wrote: »

I think you're missing the point - they left perfectly adequate time to renew their passports - if the process takes X amount of time to complete, and you allow for that amount of time, then you haven't left it too late, you've been shafted by someone intentionally undermining the process.

The notion that you should do your christmas shopping in July on the basis that shops might start arbitrarily pulling their shutters in November is the silly comment tbh.

Tripe, utter tripe! The office was closed for how long? Why do these things take so long? Maybe because there are not enough people to process the business and because people do not make allowances. Either way the fact is that they left it too late. My passport is valid for quite some time yet and when it is necessary I will renew it!

The intent is not to undermine. You will be stocking up on gargle before Good Friday so as not to be dry on the day I presume. :pac:

laoisman11

bette wrote: »

The intent is not to undermine.

If the intent is not to undermine [the process], what is the intent?

dan_d

Lads. The passport office is there to do a job. It's currently not doing it. Doesn't matter a damn who has or hasn't renewed their passports or when they've done it. The point is that the office is closed due to strikes about things that CANNOT change. And if they do change, the same idiots who are now striking may well find themselves in a much worse situation in a year's time.

Personally, I'd be sacking the lot of them. How many civil servants do we have?? 300,000 or something similar? How many people are on the dole queues? 450,000 or thereabouts? There's an extremely simple and effective solution right there. I've no doubt you could find enough people of the right calibre on the dole at the moment to happily fill in (at a moment's notice) for those passport jobs.

As with everyone else in the private sector, I pay my own pension, my own levies and I've taken a pay cut. And you know what? I wouldn't take a job in the public sector - still. But it's my country too, and I'm entitled to live here too, and I'm not prepared to watch it being driven to the ground by idiots who think their time is worth more than anyone else's. Especially when it's crystal clear we can no longer afford it.

It's about time people in there got real.

yoshytoshy

The last time I renewed my passport ,it took about two weeks.
That was when everyone and their granny was getting on planes.

For anyone to suggest that the passport office is understaffed ,especially considering the downturn ,is tripe.

alastair

bette wrote: »

Tripe, utter tripe! The office was closed for how long? Why do these things take so long? Maybe because there are not enough people to process the business and because people do not make allowances. Either way the fact is that they left it too late. My passport is valid for quite some time yet and when it is necessary I will renew it!

The intent is not to undermine. You will be stocking up on gargle before Good Friday so as not to be dry on the day I presume. :pac:

The intent is precisely to undermine the process - otherwise the process would continue as normal, and the time required to renew passports would continue as advertised (clue - late applicants have always suffered the consequences of their tardiness, now entirely timely applications are suffering the same fate). Let's not blame the victims of a strategy that's clear as day.

Lollymcd

Out of intrest, has anyone any idea how much a newly recruited CO would earn? I worked in the passport office as a temp four summers ago and was getting €390 a week before tax, this was obviously pre pension levy and new income levy, is it similar now? I believe that was what all new COs were on regardless of contract.

AARRRRGH

JustinDee wrote: »

I'm absolutely fine in my job. I really enjoy it. Have minimal debt and live within my means.
My point was that I'm prepared to take the hits. Certain others aren't.
Not crying at all, fella. I don't begrudge people for what they get in life.
The fact that they want status exception from the current state of the economy makes it my problem however.
'I'm All Right, Jack' was bang on the button. Its not me "crying into my cornflakes".

So you were so happy in your job you took a pay cut to stay there.
Looks like they didnt actually have to pay you what they were paying you before because of your happiness. You are lucky they didnt know that years ago

Maybe everyone isnt so happy in their job that they want to take a pay cut though. So just because you are doesnt mean everyone else has to take one.