David Higgins

A passport is a human right of any citizen.

It proves nationality, but more importantly it’s the means by which we travel in and out of this island. Without a passport you cannot go on holidays, you cannot make business trips and you can’t even emigrate to find work.

450,000 people in this country are out of work. It’s bad enough that they’ve lost their jobs, and it’s even worse because there are no jobs for them here. Now, to compound the problem, the unemployed must queue for a passport overnight, and they may not even get one because of the selfish actions of those who still have a job!

The CPSU’s industrial action on the passport office in Molesworth Street is not hitting the government in any way. It is only attacking the people that they claim to protect, the “ordinary working people”.

It is now reported that over 50,000 passport applications remain unprocessed in the system. The industrial action is primarily to blame for this, but it is not the only cause of the problem.

There are only three machines in the country that make passports! What’s more startling to learn is that two of those machines are now broken! However, let’s assume that a passport machine only works an eight hour day, like the average unionised worker. Surely, when there is a threefold reduction in the number of machines available then we can simply increase by three fold the productivity of the machine.

What I’m simply saying is, have the passport machine running 24/7 to clear the backlog, it’s that simple. However, we need workers to operate the machine and God forbid that any public servant should work “unsociable hours”.

People have lost thousands of Euro because they’ve missed their flights, and we must ask the question whether the government or the unions are liable to pay compensation. Today, Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter called for the CPSU to pay for any compensation claims. I assume by his comments that the Department of Foreign Affairs might have successful compensation claims to deal with. I hope the unions pay the full cost of other actions!

This crisis also raises the question, should we privatise passport production?

I’d be firmly in favour of this proposal. Private firms cut out the waste that is a cancer on our public services. They would run the passport office efficiently and they would get passports to citizens with minimal waiting times. Obviously, there is the risk that the private firm would use this facility for malicious purposes however if the government provides the same oversight as it does the passport office presently then there is no risk.

Either we privatise the system or we just face the same crisis the next time the unions don’t get what they want. We are citizens of Ireland and a passport is our right. Don’t let a vested interest take control of your life, and don’t let them hold you for random!

Yesterday saw most Public Servants walk out of work to protest at the cuts that haven’t happened yet. From early morning pickets were placed throughout the country at various locations.

However, also from early morning there were traffic jams on the roads leading to border towns like Newry and Enniskillen. Coincidence? I think not. There are private sector workers who had to take the day off to mind their kids who had no school to go to. However it’s likely that at least half of the shoppers were public servants who caused the 7 mile queue into Newry Town Centre this morning.

It’s a PR disaster for the Unions. General Secretary of IMPACT Peter McLoone dismissed this as “nonsense” on both TV3 and RTÉ. He said that public servants turned out in their “tens of thousands” to picket government departments and buildings. That’s great, but what were the other 200,000 public servants doing if only a few tens of thousands of them were out?

Also last night Dublin City saw huge volumes of people in its clubs and bars. One taxi driver commented that it was like a Friday or Saturday night with three times the fares for a Monday. The same taxi-man overheard a conversation between some of his public sector passengers. “They better hold the next strike on a Friday so we get a 3 day weekend”!

Oh poor cash strapped public servants. The world’s smallest violin playing the world’s saddest song just for you!

I passed my closed school today only to find one person on the picket, our Caretaker. Sure, some of the teachers were at the mass protest at the department of education but it seriously shows a lack of solidarity when he’s the only one there. He’d be the lowest paid of the staff of the school and so I sympathise with him. He was out in the cold while other teachers stayed in and corrected homework.

People on the dole should be furious about this. They’ve lost their Christmas Bonus and they are set to lose more from their support after next month’s budget. For many the loss of the bonus has meant that many will forgo buying presents this year with the cash going to repay bills or mortgages. They look at public servants who have the day off and who have the cash to spend up north or in packed shopping centres like Dundrum and they cringe.

This strike really has been a disaster. Sure the government saved a few bob from not paying the workers but it won’t be near the €70m that is borrowed everyday to pay for public services.

Next Thursday we have the same thing again. I can’t wait. I bet the queue to Newry will be 10 miles this time ?

Dear Teacher,

St. Colmcilles Community School has always prided itself on a high level of punctuality and attendance. Our tight rules in this area reflects the school’s belief that every minute spent in school is precious and that time spent out of school puts in jeopardy the academic prospects of its students.

The teachers unions that represent the staff of this school will soon ballot their members on industrial action ahead of December’s budget. The proposals will allow their members to go on strike if rates of pay are reduced or if there are compulsory redundancies imposed on their members.

I am urging all teachers to vote against strike action.

A strike would only serve to damage the education of the students of this school. Pupils studying for either the Junior or Leaving Certificate would miss out on vital information and this could affect their performance in the state examinations next June. Ultimately it would be the fault and responsibility of teachers if a 6th year student were to be five or ten points short of their desired college course. I know that parents, students and especially teachers don’t want this situation to arise.

The proposed cuts in the budget are going to be tough for many of you and coming from a family where income is down over 20% I can sympathise greatly with your situations. However the response to cuts should not be to cut days out of the school year or to cut other engagements like parent teacher meetings. It is the height of hypocrisy.

Teachers have a battle to fight with the government and it seems that the unions want to fight it in the hallways of our schools instead of at the gates of Leinster House. I condemn this completely and I will not stand for the students of this country being held for ransom.

I hope many of you will put the needs of your students before the desires of your union when you cast your ballot,

Thank You

David Higgins