With holiday bookings for next year already spiking, Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee on 27 December 2025 unveiled the Passport Service’s annual awareness drive urging citizens to check validity dates early. Branded ‘Don’t Be That Person’, the digital-first campaign targets parents and business travellers who are often caught out by six-month validity rules when travelling outside the EU.
The message is clear: apply online and apply early. Passport Online processed 93 percent of Ireland’s 1.25 million passport applications in 2025, delivering average turnaround times of eight working days for renewals and 15 days for first-time applicants—far quicker than paper channels. The service now supports newborns and child renewals fully online, eliminating a key pain-point for families.
For anyone who also needs a visa alongside a renewed passport, VisaHQ’s Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) streamlines the process by listing destination-specific entry rules, handling document checks, and offering courier pick-ups. It’s a convenient add-on for parents planning a family break and for HR teams managing bulk business travel.
![Government launches 2026 ‘Don’t Be That Person’ passport-renewal campaign]()
For employers, timely renewal matters because passport delays frequently derail visa filings, client visits and project start-dates. HR teams are advised to audit expatriate and frequent-traveller populations in January and schedule bulk-renewal windows before the summer rush. The Passport Service warns that 320,000 Irish passports will expire between March and August 2026.
The campaign coincides with the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) bedding in across most Schengen borders. Having a biometric-ready passport—those issued after 2006—will be essential for smooth e-gate use once Ireland eventually joins the system for outbound checks at EU airports.
A new feature this year is the ‘Travel Ready’ dashboard on Ireland.ie, allowing citizens abroad to see the real-time queue length for applications processed at the Balbriggan passport campus. Mobility teams can integrate this API into travel-approval workflows to flag staff whose passports are approaching the red zone.
The message is clear: apply online and apply early. Passport Online processed 93 percent of Ireland’s 1.25 million passport applications in 2025, delivering average turnaround times of eight working days for renewals and 15 days for first-time applicants—far quicker than paper channels. The service now supports newborns and child renewals fully online, eliminating a key pain-point for families.
For anyone who also needs a visa alongside a renewed passport, VisaHQ’s Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) streamlines the process by listing destination-specific entry rules, handling document checks, and offering courier pick-ups. It’s a convenient add-on for parents planning a family break and for HR teams managing bulk business travel.
For employers, timely renewal matters because passport delays frequently derail visa filings, client visits and project start-dates. HR teams are advised to audit expatriate and frequent-traveller populations in January and schedule bulk-renewal windows before the summer rush. The Passport Service warns that 320,000 Irish passports will expire between March and August 2026.
The campaign coincides with the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) bedding in across most Schengen borders. Having a biometric-ready passport—those issued after 2006—will be essential for smooth e-gate use once Ireland eventually joins the system for outbound checks at EU airports.
A new feature this year is the ‘Travel Ready’ dashboard on Ireland.ie, allowing citizens abroad to see the real-time queue length for applications processed at the Balbriggan passport campus. Mobility teams can integrate this API into travel-approval workflows to flag staff whose passports are approaching the red zone.
