Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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92. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when the new passport design will be in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29783/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish passport is a vital document of the Irish State and currently allows for visa free access to 193 destinations. The current design is over 10 years old and the upcoming redesign is central to maintaining the integrity and reputation of the Irish passport.

As part of the redesign process, the Passport Service undertook a public consultation last year. The purpose of this consultation was to help inform design considerations, as well as help the public connect with the next generation passport.

My department received over 15,000 responses and these insights are now helping to inform the design. The top fauna and flora selected by the public were the Irish Wolfhound and the Shamrock. These species, along with wide selection of indigenous flora and fauna, will be central elements of the new design. The full results of the public consultation are available on /en/irish-passport-redesign-consultation-results/

The Passport Service is now working with secure document designers and artists to incorporate the top indigenous species from the consultation into a viable, highly secure and visually appealing passport design. An early sketch of the Wolfhound was released in March, marking an important step in transforming the publics input into a coherent passport design.

The conception of a passport design does not equate to the imminent launch of a new passport. The Passport Service is currently undertaking a procurement exercise to appoint a high-security vendor for the production of new passport books, passport cards and other related travel documents. This procurement is a highly complex and technical undertaking, which will take a number of further months to complete. The Passport Service intends to complete the procurement process before the end of 2024.

Once a vendor has been appointed, it will be possible for the Passport Service to provide an indicative timeline for release of the new passport design.