Changes to the application process for Irish passports and driving licences are on the way

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohue said that the changes would be introduced due to “the increase in acts of terrorism over the last several years”.

Irish citizens applying for Irish passports will have to produce the State’s public service card from autumn of this year onwards and all applicants for Irish driving licences will be required to do so from next year onwards. According to The Irish Times, it has been confirmed that the card will be a requirement in the application process for both the passport and driving licence, with Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohue telling the paper that the reasons for introducing the requirement were “very simple”. “Given the increase in acts of terrorism over the last several years, every democratic country should be obliged to deploy the most robust means of authenticated travel across borders that it has available,” Donohue said. The Public Services Card (PSC), which was introduced in 2012, was initially rolled out to people getting social welfare payments but has since been rolled out to other public services. It is usually issued when someone is allocated a PPS number and 2.5 million cards have been issued to Irish citizens since it was introduced. Each card is linked back to a biometric facial recognition database controlled by the Department of Social Protection. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPiZMh0qvM8 Clip via Department of Social Protection, Ireland From September 2016, all applicants for a certificate of naturalisation aged 18 or over who are resident in the State were required to have public services card while from next month onwards, it will also be a requirement for people sitting the theory test. Donohue insisted to the Irish Times that it will not be compulsory to have a public services card, but considering that applicants for Irish passports and driving licences will be required to produce one, it will effectively become compulsory if you want to travel or drive a car in Ireland. “It is not, and will not be, compulsory to have a PSC,” O’Donohue said. “However, government has an obligation to deploy the most robust means of online and physical identity verification possible to ensure that it is doing all it can to reduce fraud, personation and the risk of identity theft in the delivery/accessing of public services.” For more information on how to apply for a public services card, click here.