Passport Services

Tuesday, 17 February 2026

Ceisteanna (291)

Pádraig Rice

Ceist:

291. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of a passport application by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12848/26]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the passport has issued to the applicant.

First-time applications are the most complex to process as they are, in essence, a verification of Irish citizenship. As such, a rigorous process is in place to validate the identity of applicants and to confirm their citizenship status.

The processing time for a first time passport application is 20 working days. This turnaround time applies to fully complete and correct applications, and begins from the date that supporting documents are received by the Passport Service, not the date the online application is made. Applications that are incorrect or incomplete will take longer to process.

Since 2022, the Passport Service has operated a document management system whereby incomplete applications that require further supporting documents are prioritised once the additional documents are received by the Passport Service. These applications are then processed within 15 working days.

Passport applicants can track the status of their passport application online via the Passport Tracker which is available on my Department's website: [https://www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/passports/tracking/]

The tracker provides an indication of how an application is progressing through the system and gives an estimated issue date based on the current average application processing time. As the website notes, the issue date of a passport is a Target Issue Date and not a guaranteed date of delivery.

The Passport Service advises citizens not to book travel until they receive their passport. I encourage everyone to apply online through Passport Online, which offers 100% of citizens the ability to apply for their passport 24 hours a day, seven days a week.