The EU Digital Identity Wallet in Ireland

The European Digital Identity Wallet, usually called the EUDI Wallet, is the EU framework for a wallet that can store and share verified identity credentials. The European Commission says member states must make wallets available to citizens, residents and businesses by the end of 2026. In Ireland, the national version is the Government Digital Wallet, a MyGovID-linked wallet currently being shaped through consultation, testing and legislation.

The short version

• The EUDI Wallet is required under eIDAS 2.0, the EU regulation that took effect in 2024.
• The European Commission says member states will make wallets available to citizens, residents and businesses by the end of 2026.
• gov.ie says mandatory acceptance by public bodies is due to commence by the end of 2026.
• gov.ie says private providers that conduct strong customer authentication, such as banks and payment service providers, are due to accept EUDI wallets 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's public consultation opened on 13 May 2026 and closed on 24 June 2026. Testing and legal work are still part of the launch path.

What the wallet will hold

The EUDI Wallet is designed to be a container for verified identity attributes and digital credentials. gov.ie says the Irish wallet is expected to support a broad range of documents over time, subject to legal provisions and rollout decisions. Treat any launch list as provisional until the State publishes the final supported credentials.

• Identity credentials — verified facts such as name and date of birth where the issuing authority supports them.
• Official documents — gov.ie examples include documents such as a birth certificate, driving licence and European Health Insurance Card.
• Education, health, travel and banking use cases — gov.ie says these are among the sectors expected over time, not guaranteed day-one features.
• Age or attribute proofs — the wallet is designed to prove a specific fact without always sharing the full underlying document.

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	gov.ie published the wallet FAQ and campaign material.
13 May to 24 June 2026	Public consultation on the Government Digital Wallet was open.
End of 2026	European Commission target for member states to make wallets available; gov.ie says public-body acceptance is due to commence by then.
End of 2027	gov.ie says private service providers that conduct strong customer authentication are due to accept EUDI wallets.
After launch	Further credentials and use cases depend on Irish legal provisions, EU technical requirements and issuing-body support.

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 currently erase the need for the PSC or SAFE identity proof. It changes how verified credentials can be presented once issued.

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 or regulated identity checks, planning in 2026 is sensible, but do not buy tooling solely on vendor claims. gov.ie says private providers that conduct strong customer authentication are due to accept EUDI wallets by the end of 2027. 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 will keep this page updated as Irish guidance becomes more specific. For now, treat procurement and compliance decisions as professional advice matters, not something to decide from an explainer article.

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.