One woman waiting for a passport renewal says an office in Britain tried to help her, as she can't get through to the office in Dublin.
Sinead Bellew started the renewal process on March 18th for her son, to further his application for a provisional licence.
The online service took her payment, but then told her a few days later she had to resubmit the photo.
She says she now feels locked out of the system.
"We tried to do that and the resubmission form told us there was an issue.
"So the bottom line for us was that the online service - while it seems and sounds good, and is supposed to be very effective and fast - the photo recognition clearly works on the app element.
"But doesn't then work, as far as we can see, when it's to be finally processed in the Passport Office - there seems to be a disconnect between the two".
Sinead tried calling the Irish Passport Office and chatting online, but got nowhere. So she then tried sending an e-mail - with mixed results.
"I Googled the Passport Office, I thought 'I'll e-mail them'.
"I obviously clicked on the wrong thing, I got through to the passport office in London.
"They came back to me 25 minutes later, giving me advice on how to get through to the Irish Passport Office.
"Their response was so fast, it was a great response basically - but it was the London passport office trying to help me get through to the Irish Passport Office."
