Ryanair exacerbating Ireland's passport crisis?

Dominic Hannigan, a senator in the Irish Parliament, has suggested that Ryanair should temporarily drop its requirement for all  travellers to have passports, to alleviate the backlog of almost 50,000 applications clogging up the passport office due to industrial action. Around 40% of Irish air passengers are travelling to the UK, and passports are not legally required – a driving licence, for instance, is perfectly adequate. how do we rate the chances of any co-operation? Not great, unless of course passengers switch to other airlines in significant numbers.