Peadar Tóibín
Question:264. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is she is aware that the new Irish passport card has been refused at airports in Europe (details supplied). [1167/26]
View answerTuesday, 13 January 2026
Questions (264)
Written answers
The passport card was launched in October 2015 and offers Irish citizens the convenience of travel, with a credit card sized travel document, to all EU Member States, the members of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The Passport Card is fully compliant with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations concerning requirements for passports in card format.
Ministries of Justice/Home Affairs as relevant in each EU and EEA country, Great Britain and Switzerland have been contacted and informed to ensure that border authorities are fully appraised of the validity of the Irish Passport Card for travel.
The Irish authorities have engaged extensively with our international partners in relation to the card and will continue to do so.
I am satisfied that the Passport Service has taken necessary measures to ensure that authorities in countries that permit the use of passport cards for border entry are aware of the features of the Irish passport card.
The provision of consular assistance to Irish citizens who get into difficulty abroad is a cornerstone of the work of officials in my Department. My officials and I place a strong emphasis on ensuring that Irish citizens receive timely and empathetic consular assistance in accordance with the Department’s Consular Assistance Charter. Citizens experiencing difficulty with acceptance of passport cards in the airports of EU and EEA countries, Great Britain and Switzerland can contact my Department for consular assistance.