Public services at 64 local social welfare offices and at passport offices in Dublin and Cork were seriously curtailed because of industrial action.
Public counters were not staffed and telephones were not answered as part of a public service union campaign of industrial action against pay cuts.
The passport office in Cork issues around 600 passports every day.
It was busier than usual during the morning as people applied for and collected their passports.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said no new passport applications will be accepted until Monday.
There has been a mixed response from the public to the industrial action.
Up to now, the campaign of industrial action against pay cuts has had a limited effect on the public, but that could be about to change.
IMPACT is to propose a major escalation of the campaign, with widespread rolling workplace stoppages and that could grind public services to a virtual halt.
