Tánaiste announces a one-week extension to the passport design survey
- Published on: 11 July 2023
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Following an unprecedented response from the public, the Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin, has today announced a one-week extension to the passport design survey, giving citizens an opportunity to provide their input on the next design for Ireland’s passport book and card until 19 July.
The Tánaiste said:
"To date, more than 12,000 citizens across the island of Ireland and overseas have shared their views on the passport design survey. In light of this encouraging engagement, I am delighted to announce a one-week extension to the survey until Wednesday, 19 July. The survey is a unique opportunity for people to give their views and share the aspects of Ireland’s diverse natural environment they would like to see feature as part of our new passport book and card design. You can complete the survey on gov.ie and DFA.ie. It is available in both Irish and English and takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.
"I would also like to reassure Irish passport holders that, in spite of some recent reporting to the contrary, the upcoming redesign relates to the pages inside the passport. The burgundy cover with our beautiful national harp emblem will remain unchanged.
"With almost 600,000 passports issued so far this year, 2023 continues to be a busy year for the Passport Service. I would remind citizens who are planning to travel to check that your passport is in date, and if you need to apply for a new passport, use Passport Online. Over 90 percent of citizens now use Passport Online as it is the quickest, cheapest and most efficient way to apply for your passport."
Notes
Red C is undertaking this survey on behalf of the department. It is publicly available in both Irish and English and will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
The results of the survey will help to inform the future design of the Irish passport which is expected to be introduced in late 2025.
The existing passport book is ten years old and to maintain the integrity of the passport, frequent redesigns and enhanced security features to passport books, passport cards and other travel documents are recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The Passport Service is meeting all of its target turnaround times, and has issued almost 600,000 passports to date in 2023.
The Passport Service Customer Service Hub is responding to between 13-15,000 queries per week on phones and webchat.
Over half of all online simple adult renewals issue within two working days.