The Irish passport is to be redesigned in a bid to stay one step ahead of fraudsters and forgers.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin will tell Cabinet today about a parallel public engagement process to create a “new design” for Irish passports.
But the essentials will remain the same, with a gold Irish harp on the burgundy background of all such EU national identity documents.
The Department of Foreign Affairs will be launching a project to redesign the Irish passport, to not only include latest security features, but also continue to communicate Irish culture and values.
The current passport design is 10-years-old, and the International Civil Aviation Authority recommends documents undergo frequent revamps to include new security features.
Since its launch in 2013, the existing Irish passport, with individually designed pages celebrating our heritage, has been recognised as a highly trusted and secure travel document.
It ranks fifth in the Henley Global Passport Index, providing citizens with visa-free access to 189 countries.
The current Irish passport introduced big changes from previous versions, with unique imagery and security features, which in turn set a standard internationally.
But forgers inevitably catch up.
As part of the renewal process, the department is launching a public engagement in relation to the design in order to fully involve citizens.
Its design team is considering themes anchored in Ireland’s natural environment.
“For this exercise, the department will seek the public’s input on choosing aspects of Ireland’s diverse flora and fauna to help shape the passport design,” an official said.
“The public will be asked for input during the passport design phase through a short online questionnaire asking them to consider which Irish flora and fauna should be included in the design.”
The online survey will be launched at the end of this month, is available in both Irish and English and will take about five minutes to complete.
It is hoped the first of the “next-generation” Irish passports will be issued to citizens in 2025.
The move comes as passport renewals are being turned around at record speeds.
The Passport Service says it is meeting the current high demand for passports.
“There are no application backlogs and all turnaround times are at target level,” it said.
The situation has transformed since last year, when delays of six weeks were commonplace and worried holidaymakers told of hours on hold as they desperately rang passport helplines.
(Source – Irish Independent – Irish News – Senan Molony – 27/06/2023)