OVER ONE million passports were issued by the Irish Passport Office in 2022, setting a new annual record.A total of 1,080,000 passports were issued this year, surpassing the previous record of 935,000 passports in 2019.
As in previous years, there were a significant number of applicants from Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Out of over 1.15 million applications received, just under 100,000 first time applications were received from these regions.
The oldest applicant was 102 and the youngest just 3 days old.
Outside of applications from Ireland and Britain, the most online applications came from the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, Spain, Germany and South Africa.
Speaking about this record breaking year, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, said:
"In 2022, the Passport Service saw extraordinary volumes of applications received and passports issued. This was a direct result of pent-up demand due to disruptions to travel throughout 2020 and 2021. The government made significant investment over the year to scale up services to meet this demand.
"Looking forward to 2023, my department is expecting another busy year for the Passport Service. I would encourage anyone who is considering travel to check that their passport is in date, today, and if they need to renew their passport or apply for the first time, to use Passport Online. This is the quickest, easiest and most cost effective way to apply for your passport."
