Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

The wait time for a new passport can be up to 28 working days. samboal

Dublin dad says family holiday in jeopardy due to 'misinformation' and delays getting baby's passport

Neil Curran says he was told different things by An Post and Passport Service.

A DUBLIN FAMILY has said they are in danger of missing out on a family holiday because of misinformation and confusion during the passport application process.

The Passport Service said recently that it was hiring an extra 220 people to help deal with a backlog of 70,000 applications, but now one applicant has said he wasn’t clearly informed about wait-periods and may have to cancel a holiday as a result.

Neil Curran was applying for a passport for his new daughter for a family holiday to Spain that is due to begin later this month.

His daughter was born in October last and he sent away for the passport on 8 March, six weeks before the planned departure date.

The six-week time frame came from the homepage of the passport section of the Department of Foreign Affairs website, which says that applicants should leave at least that long before they travel to get their passport.

Neil said that he would have applied for the passport sooner but that his mother was extremely ill and that it “kind of took a back seat”.

Even then, he said he wasn’t worried because he’d checked the website and it said he had enough time.

passport weeks DFA DFA

Applications for a new passport can be made through An Post and Neil said that he went to his local post office to send off all his paperwork.

While there, Neil told TheJournal.ie that he double-checked with the staff who were working to make sure he had the 19 working days that is usually required for a passport.

I said to her, ‘do you mind if we count out the days before I give you the forms so we know whether I can do it this way or I could go into the Passport Office?’ She helped me count out the days and taking account of bank holidays we had a week to two weeks grace.

Neil said that a couple of weeks later he went online to check on the process of the application and found that it gave him an estimated date of issue of 23 April, four days after his planned departure.

After being unable to speak to anyone in the Passport Service by telephone, he said he waited 79 minutes to speak to someone via webchat.

He was then told that because his daughter was a first-time applicant it would take longer to get the passport, something he wasn’t told when he was making the application.

He raised this but was told that applicants cannot go by what they are told in post offices. This is despite post offices being official agents for passport applications.

“I said it to her about the post office quoting me 19 working days and she wasn’t having any of it, saying you can’t go by the dates of the post office. And I said they’re your agents, they’re acting on your behalf,” Neil explains.

He then asked would it instead be possible to make an application in person in the Dublin Passport Office as part of the pilot dual application scheme.

Again, he was told that because it was a first-time application this would not be possible.

Written off

“We’re due to travel late this week, and we’;ve basically written it off,” he says.

“And from a personal circumstances perspective, not withstanding what my mother and all went through, my wife is self-employed. So while it’s easy for my boss to change the dates for my holiday, the dates for her, because she’s self-employed we don’t have an alternate, that’s two weeks she’s not working.”

“It’s not like we can just take two weeks when we get the passport because she’s self-employed, she has to plan her job.!

Neil was told by the Passport Service that he was “misinformed at the post office” and that there’s nothing that can be done beyond noting the date of his holiday.

He was told: ”Children’s first time applications do take longer as all the documentation needs to be validated and checked. At this time, all that I can do is note the dates of travel to your application.”

Neil says that the 28 working days rule for new passports is mentioned in the FAQ section of the website but is not “up front and centre” like the six weeks advice.

The frustrating this is that time was always on my side and the fact that I went into the post office to count out the days, so I wasn’t informed as a citizen and a consumer. It’s not like I just decided two weeks before to apply for the passport. I made those conscious choices.

“My parents spend most of the year out there, my mother hasn’t spent quality time with my daughter because she had a brain aneurysm and hasn’t been able to. So this is kinda the time for the family to be away from it all. I know it doesn’t justify it ahead of anyone else but it just adds to the trip.”

In the post

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that applicants can check what the turnaround time is for all categories of applications and that it is currently at a target 15 days for renewals and 23 days for new applications.

It added that the number of passport applications is currently rising as it approaches “peak season”.

“However it is important to note that there is not a backlog of 70,000 applications. These numbers reflect passports going through routine checking, processing and security stages, in the usual way,” the department stated.

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
80 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Craig Clancy
    Favourite Craig Clancy
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:18 PM

    They haven’t paved the way with any incentives to be carbon neutral in 100 years time never mind 2050..no planning, no decent ideas just going with the flow and tax tax tax hoping it will work.

    479
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Geoff Bateman
    Favourite Geoff Bateman
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:34 PM

    @Craig Clancy: correct

    153
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Quoka
    Favourite Quoka
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:44 PM

    @Craig Clancy: Exactly. Policies like this are all fart and no poo. The threshold temperature rise for continued planetary warming has been passed irreversibly by many accounts. We didn’t heed the warnings decades ago. The damage has for the most part been done there’s just a lag in consequences. Moreover we literally have exactly zero idea how to stop it, let alone reverse it. I’m not saying we shouldn’t try but we literally have no idea how to maintain our present lifestyle and halt what’s coming.

    97
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Mulligan
    Favourite John Mulligan
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:26 PM

    @Craig Clancy: 6,000 forestry licenses held up by a bungling bureaucracy. So many obstacles now to planting trees that new planting is running at a tiny fraction of target.
    If we can’t do the simple things, and if a random crank can stop farmers planting trees, how will we manage the big stuff?

    45
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kipper O Keeffe
    Favourite Kipper O Keeffe
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:22 PM

    All this is another way to tax people

    319
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The Bolt
    Favourite The Bolt
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:14 PM

    That man would give an Anadin a headache

    293
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Derek Baldy Head Baldrick
    Favourite Derek Baldy Head Baldrick
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 5:17 PM

    @The Bolt: I’d imagine some of the electorate are clamoring for the next election when as far as they’re concerned it might be time to see who’s who. I’m sure the opposition will increase the pressure and that there will no doubt me some crass comments getting bandied about :)

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Byrne
    Favourite Dave Byrne
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:49 PM

    Could the Journal do a story on why sleepy needs so many advisors 8 I believe.

    177
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Derek Lyster
    Favourite Derek Lyster
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:05 PM

    @Dave Byrne: because he hasn’t a scooby doo about what he is supposed to be doing?

    123
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Mc Donagh
    Favourite John Mc Donagh
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:34 PM

    It can be done! Everybody has just to stop everything—That includes eating, drinking and traveling.

    122
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ed w
    Favourite ed w
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:14 PM

    landmark day for greens concreteing the countryside

    109
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Donal Desmond
    Favourite Donal Desmond
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:16 PM

    @ed w: Landmark day for tax increases on behalf of the baby Blueshirts..The Greens.

    229
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Barrett
    Favourite Dave Barrett
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 5:50 PM

    @ed w: All beef to be done away with and replaced with beef tasting veggie burgers. People’s diet to be modified so as to cut down on poo and farting.

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute inflation is coming... buy physical silver.
    Favourite inflation is coming... buy physical silver.
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:12 PM

    A great day for central bankers and corporations as the so called president of people gives the green light for further deficit spending for years to come. Welcome to the debt slave society all.

    90
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tim
    Favourite Tim
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:16 PM

    Do you still have the big diesel car Eamon?

    76
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ciaran O 'Reilly
    Favourite Ciaran O 'Reilly
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:19 PM

    Someone needs to reinvent the airplane so.

    75
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute eoin carroll
    Favourite eoin carroll
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:36 PM

    What does this mean? Will Eamon Ryan be arrested if this target isn’t met?

    58
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute DB
    Favourite DB
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 5:51 PM

    Good auld Eamonn let’s tax the living day lights out of everyone to give him a hard on to be carbon neutral .

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Padraic McDonagh
    Favourite Padraic McDonagh
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 5:57 PM

    It’s disappointing that Micky D will sign any auld shi’ite that comes his way. He was a public servant with principles, only to retire as a yes man.

    67
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Eugene Canning
    Favourite Eugene Canning
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:33 PM

    All the houses he’s going to build after his official retirement will be carbon neutral!

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Damian Moylan
    Favourite Damian Moylan
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 6:22 PM

    Why in this rush to push people to buy new cars is there no account taken at all in how much co2 it costs to actually make a car (of whatever variety) and it is significant. The actual total co2 would be the manufacturing co2 in tonnes divided by the car life span plus whatever comes out the back but this is not considered.

    31
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ilarion Cibu
    Favourite Ilarion Cibu
    Report
    Jul 24th 2021, 12:21 AM

    @Damian Moylan: what is also completely disregarded is battery utilisation which causes Humongous pollution in to the atmosphere because there is no technology to utilize Lithium-ion batteries that EV are driven , you know how they are being utilised? BURNT DOWN – thats how. And the battery life is 200-300k km. And when theres going to be enough EV’S its going to be a natural disaster when theres millions of batteries to be burnt.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gerard Heery
    Favourite Gerard Heery
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 7:27 PM

    Taxed into the grave ye will go ,meanwhile I wonder how all the six litre SUVs are doing in the oil rich counties

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute john smith iv
    Favourite john smith iv
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:42 PM

    Need to stop the cows farting.

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Aido
    Favourite Aido
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:54 PM

    @john smith iv: seaweed

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute brendan o connell
    Favourite brendan o connell
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 11:29 PM

    China puts out more emissions in an hour than Ireland puts out in a year, not to mention the US with their 8 mile per gallon cars , India, Pakistan, Russia south America Africa etc , tis laughable indeed, we don’t amount to a hill of beens but we will suffer as those mentioned have no possibility of conformity .

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute trebloc01
    Favourite trebloc01
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 6:04 PM

    The biggest producer are the Greens.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Kearney
    Favourite Gary Kearney
    Report
    Jul 24th 2021, 3:37 PM

    @trebloc01: They do produce a lot of hot air that is true.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Geoff Bateman
    Favourite Geoff Bateman
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 3:34 PM

    and if we dont?

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dónal Ó Keeffe
    Favourite Dónal Ó Keeffe
    Report
    Jul 24th 2021, 10:39 AM

    Have all these proposals been proofed against those on the average industrial wage. Impractical proposals and taxes disguised as green initiatives will do nothing to effect climate change. Global agreements are the only solution. USA/China/india/russia account for 55% of global fossil fuel emissions alone. Unless these 4 have similar proposals then all the rest of the world can only achieve less than half of what is required. Green party needs to live in the realworld and align themselves with greenpeace etc. to make themselves credible, and force real change not just contracts for their supporters.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mairtin Thornton
    Favourite Mairtin Thornton
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:52 PM

    Maybe cut down on the planning permission for Data centres!!!

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mairtin Thornton
    Favourite Mairtin Thornton
    Report
    Jul 23rd 2021, 4:59 PM

    Maybe focus on reducing planning permission for data centres

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds