Your pet to Ireland: the tapeworm clock, and why the route via England changes everything

Yes, your dog, cat or ferret comes with you to Ireland, and from the Netherlands the European pet passport is the basis. The rules are the familiar ones: first the microchip, then the rabies vaccination, and at least 21 days' wait. For dogs one Irish element is added, a treatment against the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, between one and five days before arrival. The trap is the route. Citizens Information says it explicitly: the country your pet travels from sets the rules. If you drive via England and Wales, you enter Ireland from Great Britain, and for pets that is a country outside the EU.

What does your pet need from the EU?

Four things, in this order.

• A microchip, inserted before the rabies vaccination and readable to ISO standard 11785. If you are not sure, bring your own microchip reader.
• The rabies vaccination, given when your pet is at least 12 weeks old and after the microchip. Then you wait until immunity has developed: at least 21 days after the first vaccination, or longer if the vaccine requires it. A booster given on time, before the previous vaccination runs out, has no waiting period.
• An EU pet passport, properly and fully completed and stamped by the vet for the vaccination. The passport alone doesn't give automatic entry; the pet must meet all requirements.
• For dogs: the tapeworm treatment, on every trip to Ireland, given by a vet and recorded in the passport.

Your pet travels with you, or within five days before or after you with someone you authorise, and always with the original paperwork. If you travel with more than five pets, or the pet travels alone, other rules apply. And on arrival you declare dogs and cats to customs; they are on the list of goods Revenue wants to see.

When must the dog be treated for tapeworm?

Between 24 and 120 hours before arrival in Ireland, or one to five days. With a long crossing, the arrival time counts, not the moment you board. So plan the vet backwards from the hour the boat docks.

Clock	Deadline	Where
Age at the rabies vaccination	at least 12 weeks	passport
Microchip	before the rabies vaccination	passport
Waiting period after the first rabies vaccination	at least 21 days, or longer according to the vaccine	passport
Tapeworm treatment for dogs, from the EU	24 to 120 hours before arrival in Ireland	passport
Pet travels separately from you	no more than 5 days before or after you	otherwise other rules

What changes if you travel via Great Britain?

Everything that makes the direct route from the mainland simple. The Department of Agriculture writes that the rules for pets coming from Great Britain to Ireland apply to every pet, including one with an EU passport. For you the landbridge means:

Element	Direct from the mainland	Via Great Britain
Passport	EU passport	EU passport, if you live in the EU
Tapeworm treatment for dogs	1 to 5 days before arrival in Ireland	before entering Great Britain, and again by a British vet 24 to 120 hours before arrival in Ireland
Advance notice	not needed	via the Advance Notice Portal, at least 24 hours before arrival
Point of entry	free	only Dublin Port, Rosslare, Ringaskiddy or the airports of Dublin, Cork and Shannon
Check on arrival	not as standard	a compliance check, arranged in advance

On top of that your pet first has to enter Great Britain, where the British rules apply: an approved route and carrier, and for dogs a tapeworm treatment before entering Great Britain. The Department of Agriculture advises talking to your vet well in advance.

Two treatments, two vets. If you take your dog via the landbridge, you need one treatment for Great Britain and a second, by a vet in Great Britain, for Ireland, each in its own window, plus the advance notice. Whoever doesn't want to plan that takes the direct boat from the mainland.

What happens if it isn't right?

If your pet doesn't meet the requirements, it can be refused entry. The Department of Agriculture can return it at your expense to the country it came from, or place it in quarantine until it meets the EU rules, also at your expense.

And rabbits, birds and rodents?

They can often come if you are moving to live here, but under their own conditions. The government refers to the Pet Travel portal for that, where you look up the requirements per country of origin.

How the pet fits into your moving plans, together with the household goods and the car, is shown at /ierland.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Ireland or go straight to step 3.3 in the open plan.