Irish passport service should put US applicants 'at bottom of the waiting list', TD says

'I’m aware of some cases where American citizens are applying for passports because they just want to frame it, or to be able to say that they have an Irish passport,' Mr Lawless said. Picture: PA

Ireland's passport service should introduce a “hierarchical structure” for processing applications, with Americans placed at the “bottom of the waiting list”, a TD has suggested.

It comes as figures received by Aontú show an ongoing post-covid increase in applications.

Information released by Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Simon Harris to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín show that between 2015 and July 21, 2025, 8,567,741 passport applications were received. Some 8,853,137 passports were issued over the same period.

Mr Harris said the number of passports issued can be higher than the number of applications received for various reasons. This includes if an application is for a “passport bundle”, which includes a passport book and card. This is counted as one application, but two travel documents are issued.

They can also differ as an application may be made in the previous calendar year, and the document may not be issued until the following year.

820,000 applications a year up to 2019  

Between 2015 and 2019, an average of 819,933 passport applications were received every year.

This dropped to 499,884 in 2020 in line with pandemic restrictions that shut down international travel. There was a slight uplift to 772,850 applications in 2021.

However, as travel restrictions were lifted, the number of applications received increased dramatically.

Over a million applications each year now

In 2022, some 1,157,990 passport applications were received. 

There has been in excess of 1m applications received every year since, with 1,036,712 applications and 1,000,640 applications in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

As of July 21, there had been around 580,000 applications received so far in 2025 with 615,5433 issued.

Aontú’s Paul Lawless told the Irish Examiner that Irish citizens must be prioritised for passport processing, as he suggested that US citizens are “applying for a passport just to frame it”.

“I think it’s natural that we saw a spike in the number of passport applications after the pandemic as people were permitted to travel again and needed to renew,” he said.

“At certain times of the year there are delays and this is very unfortunate for people who have booked flights or holidays and are left in the lurch as to whether they will be able to travel or not.”

He said Aontú believes there needs to be a clear hierarchical structure put in place for processing passport applications.

“Those who need to travel due to death or illness in the family should be prioritised first and foremost.

Date of travel should determine priority also. We also think that people who were born in or are resident in Ireland should be prioritised over non-residents.

“I’m aware of some cases where American citizens are applying for passports because they just want to frame it, or to be able to say that they have an Irish passport. These individuals should be put to the bottom of the waiting list, especially at times where Irish families are struggling to get passports.”

In May 2022, the passport service reached a crisis point with 195,000 applications in the queue. The Dáil heard that some applications were taking up to 14 weeks.

However, Mr Harris said the turnaround for paper applications is now eight weeks, with the “majority of adult online renewal applications issuing within two working days”.