MyGovID — Ireland's national digital identity service
MyGovID is the Republic of Ireland's national digital identity service. It is operated by the Department of Social Protection and gives Irish residents a single login they can use across more than 140 state services — Revenue myAccount, MyWelfare, driving licence services, student grants, the HSE Health App, and most other things the state offers online. This page explains what it is, how it works, what it costs (nothing), what data it holds, and the limits and concerns worth knowing about.
The short version
- MyGovID is a state-run single-sign-on for accessing Irish online government services.
- It is free to register.
- Roughly 2.3 million Irish residents have a verified MyGovID account; the Central Statistics Office reports that eight in ten people now use a digital ID (MyGovID or Revenue myAccount) to access essential services.
- There are two account tiers: basic (just an email and password) and verified (linked to your Public Services Card or verified through the MyGovID app).
- The verified tier is what most useful services need.
Who runs it
The Department of Social Protection. The official website is mygovid.ie. The Department also runs the related MyWelfare portal, which uses MyGovID for sign-in. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) is responsible for cross-government identity strategy.
Basic vs verified accounts
| Basic MyGovID | Verified MyGovID | |
|---|---|---|
| What you need to register | Name + email | Basic account + PPS number + Public Services Card or app-based identity verification |
| 2FA required at login | No | Yes (6-digit SMS code) |
| What you can access | A handful of low-trust services (e.g. PSC appointment booking) | Revenue myAccount, MyWelfare claims, driving licence services, student grants, HSE Health App, most state services |
| Stored linked to you | Email, password hash | Email, password hash, PPS number, phone number, identity attributes from the Department's records |
The verification step is the one most people find awkward. There are two routes:
- If you already have a Public Services Card — you can verify online by linking your PSC and a verified phone number to your basic MyGovID account.
- If you don't have a Public Services Card — you can verify your identity through the MyGovID app on a smartphone, by photographing a government-issued identity document and submitting a liveness selfie. Once verified, a PSC is automatically posted to your home address as well.
If both fail, the fallback is an in-person SAFE appointment at an Intreo Centre — see our PSC appointment guide.
What MyGovID lets you do
The official line is "more than 140 services". In practice the ones most people use are:
- Revenue — file your income tax return, claim tax credits, request a Statement of Liability, manage tax registration as a sole trader.
- MyWelfare — apply for Jobseeker's, Illness Benefit, Maternity Benefit, Parent's Benefit, State Pension; manage your existing claims.
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing — renew a driving licence, book a theory test, manage NCT bookings.
- Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) — apply for and manage student grants.
- HSE Health App — access your COVID certificates, vaccination records, certain GP referrals.
- Local authority services — varies by council; many planning, housing and parking-permit applications now require MyGovID.
What data MyGovID holds
For a verified account, MyGovID stores:
- Your name as recorded on your PSC.
- Your PPS number.
- Your verified phone number (used for 2FA).
- Your email address (the account username).
- A password hash.
- Identity attributes from the Department's records (date of birth, address as recorded on welfare or PSC files).
- For app-verified accounts: the documents and biometric data you submitted during verification (handled by the Department).
You can request a copy of the personal data MyGovID and the Department hold about you by filing a Subject Access Request under GDPR. See our forthcoming GDPR rights guide for the template.
Security model
MyGovID uses email + password + SMS 2FA. The MyGovID app additionally uses device-bound credentials and (on supported phones) biometric unlock. The system supports session timeouts and forced re-authentication for sensitive operations.
It does not support hardware security keys, passkeys, or single-sign-on with non-state identity providers. That's a known limitation; the EUDI Wallet rollout is the route by which alternative authentication methods are expected to arrive.
Issues and concerns
The most-discussed criticisms of MyGovID and the wider state identity stack are covered in dedicated pages:
- The Public Services Card controversy — the underlying PSC infrastructure was the subject of a major Data Protection Commission inquiry. The DPC found the Department's processing of PSC data unlawful in several material respects. MyGovID is closely entangled with this story because verified MyGovID accounts depend on PSC data.
- The DPC ruling, in plain English — what the regulator actually decided and what the Department did in response.
- MyGovID outages — a running log.
Help and troubleshooting
If something is wrong with your MyGovID right now, start at our troubleshooting hub. The specific deep guides cover forgotten passwords, 2FA codes not arriving, locked accounts, iPhone app crashes, Android problems, server errors and stuck verification.
Related explainers
- MyGovID vs the Public Services Card — how they relate and which one you actually need.
- EUDI Wallet vs MyGovID — what changes for ordinary users in 2026–2027.
- Which Irish state ID do I need? — decision flow for common scenarios.