The EU Digital Identity Wallet in Ireland

The European Union Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet is a smartphone wallet app that every EU member state must offer its residents by the end of 2026. In Ireland, the wallet is being built on top of the existing MyGovID infrastructure and is branded the Government Digital Wallet. This page explains what the wallet is, what it will hold, when each part arrives, and what it means for you and for businesses that need to verify identity.

The short version

• The EUDI Wallet is required under eIDAS 2.0, the EU regulation that took effect in 2024.
• Each EU country must offer its residents a working digital wallet by the end of 2026.
• Public bodies must accept the wallet for identification by the end of 2026.
• Private-sector providers that conduct strong customer authentication (banks, payment service providers, telecoms) must accept the wallet by the end of 2027.
• Ireland's wallet is built on MyGovID and the Personal Public Service Number (PPS) infrastructure, and is branded the Government Digital Wallet.
• The Government opened a public consultation and opt-in testing phase on 3 April 2026; the hard EU deadline is 24 December 2026.

What the wallet will hold

The EUDI Wallet is designed to be a single container for verified identity attributes and digital credentials. Expected contents at launch and shortly after:

• Government identity attributes — name, date of birth, PPS-equivalent, address; the digital twin of what's on a PSC.
• Digital driving licence (mDL) — accepted across the EU for driver identification and (over time) age verification.
• Educational credentials — diplomas, transcripts, professional qualifications.
• Health credentials — vaccination records, prescriptions, EU-wide healthcare entitlements.
• Travel credentials — boarding passes, accommodation check-in tokens.
• Banking credentials — verified account holder identity for SCA-required transactions.

The wallet is designed around a principle called selective disclosure: you can prove a specific attribute (e.g. "I am over 18") without revealing other attributes (name, exact date of birth). The cryptography supporting this is part of the EUDI architecture reference framework.

Timeline

Date	Milestone
3 April 2026	Government Digital Wallet enters public consultation and opt-in testing. People aged 16+ can download and test limited functions; register at gov.ie/DigitalWallet.
24 December 2026	Hard EU deadline: each member state must offer a working wallet. In Ireland, public-sector bodies must accept it.
End of 2027	Private-sector providers requiring strong customer authentication (banks, payment services, qualified trust services) must accept the wallet.
2026–2027	Sector pilots in Ireland: travel, fintech, healthcare are first in line. The Government has invited integrations in those sectors.
2026 onward	The wallet will gradually absorb the functions of the Public Services Card and verified MyGovID, though the underlying credential infrastructure remains.

How it relates to MyGovID

Ireland's EUDI Wallet is being built on top of MyGovID and the existing PSC/PPS infrastructure — not as a replacement. The wallet inherits the identity verification done by MyGovID, then adds EU-interoperable credentials that can be presented to any EUDI-compliant relying party in any member state.

In practice that means:

• If you already have a verified MyGovID account, the wallet onboarding will be relatively quick.
• If you don't, you'll need to do the MyGovID verification first — the same routes apply (PSC link, app-based identity verification, or in-person SAFE appointment).
• The wallet does not replace your physical PSC unless you choose to use the digital version exclusively.

For a side-by-side comparison of MyGovID and the wallet, see EUDI Wallet vs MyGovID.

For businesses preparing for 2027 mandatory acceptance

If your business performs strong customer authentication under PSD2 or maintains KYC under the Anti-Money Laundering rules, you will need to accept EUDI Wallet credentials by the end of 2027. Planning in 2026 is sensible. Key questions:

• Which credentials do your existing onboarding flows actually need? (Most need fewer attributes than they currently request.)
• Are you using a vendor whose roadmap includes EUDI Wallet support? (Yoti, Persona, Veriff, OneID and others have public roadmaps; verify before assuming.)
• Are your audit logs, retention policies and DPIAs ready for the new credential format? The technical change is real but smaller than the policy change.

MyID offers B2B advisory and a forthcoming "EUDI Wallet readiness" guide — see contact.

Concerns and criticism

The EUDI Wallet is one of the most contested digital-policy initiatives in the EU. Three of the major concerns:

• Centralisation of identity. Critics argue that a single wallet for all identity attributes creates a single point of failure and surveillance. The eIDAS architecture and selective-disclosure design partially mitigate this, but the political concern persists.
• Mandatory uptake for some services. If a large number of state and private services come to require wallet presentation, opting out becomes harder over time even though the wallet is not itself mandatory.
• Implementation risk. EU-wide rollouts of this scale have historically slipped. Several EU-level experts have publicly suggested the 2026 deadline will not be met cleanly across all member states. Ireland is on the more advanced end of the curve.

How to follow this story

The wallet rollout is the single biggest identity story in Ireland over the next 24 months. This page will be updated as each milestone lands. Subscribe to the MyID newsletter for the weekly digest.

Related explainers

• How to test the Government Digital Wallet — the practical step-by-step guide.
• MyGovID — the foundation the Irish wallet is built on.
• Public Services Card — what the wallet may eventually replace.
• EUDI Wallet vs MyGovID — direct comparison.
• Online Safety Code — age verification under Coimisiún na Meán.