Flying to Ireland with a dog
No form to file and no check to book, but there's a tablet with a clock on it. Get the timing wrong and your dog can be refused.
The one that catches people out
The tapeworm tablet, timed to when you land
Ireland is one of only a handful of places in Europe that require this, and it applies even when you're coming from another EU country. A vet has to worm your dog against Echinococcus and record the product, the date and the exact time, no less than 24 hours and no more than 120 hours before you arrive. Count back from your landing time, not your departure. You're exempt only if you're coming straight from Finland, Malta, Norway or Northern Ireland. Get the window wrong and your dog can be refused or quarantined.
Still checking: An XL Bully import ban has been widely reported but we couldn't confirm it from a primary Department of Agriculture page. If that's your dog, ask livetrade@agriculture.gov.ie before you book.
Everything you need, in order
Working forwards from the first vet visit to the moment you land. Miss one and the rest of them don’t save you.
- 1
Before anything else
Microchip, fitted before the rabies vaccination
The order matters more than the dates. If the dog was vaccinated before it was chipped the vaccination is invalid, the vet has to redo it after chipping, and a fresh 21-day wait starts from there.
- 2
At least 21 days before you travel
Rabies vaccination, then the wait
Counted from the completion of the primary vaccination course, not from the date you book. A booster given after the previous one expired counts as a new primary vaccination, so the 21 days start again. Under EU Regulation 2026/131, which replaced 576/2013 in April 2026.
- 3
Before you fly
EU pet passport, the original
Ireland asks for original paperwork, not copies or photographs. The microchip has to be readable to the ISO 11785 standard.
- 4
24 to 120 hours before you land
Tapeworm tablet, given by a vet
Count back from your arrival time. Exempt coming directly from Finland, Malta, Norway or Northern Ireland.
- 5
On arrival
Nothing to book, but carry everything
Coming from the EU there's no compliance check to book in advance and no fee. You can still be spot-checked, so keep the passport on you rather than in the hold. Ireland's designated entry airports apply to non-EU arrivals only.
Breed rules in Ireland
Ireland's restricted breeds have to be muzzled and on a short lead in public, and handled by someone over 16. That's a rule about being out and about rather than a border ban.
Official source, read 2026-09-13. Breed lists get amended, so check before you book.
Who’ll take your dog to Ireland
Airlines we’ve checked that carry a dog in the cabin, by where you’re starting from. Open a route for the fees, the weight limits and the current flights.
- CDG → DUBDirect with Air France. Up to 8kg including the carrier, €30–€200.
- ORY → DUBDirect with Transavia. Up to 8kg including the carrier, €50–€75.
- AMS → DUBDirect with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Up to 8kg including the carrier, €75–€200.
- BRU → DUBDirect with Brussels Airlines. Up to 8kg including the carrier, €60–€100.
- FRA → DUBNothing direct. One stop via CDG with Air France.
- MXP → DUBNothing direct. One stop via CDG with Air France.
- FCO → DUBDirect with ITA Airways. Up to 10kg including the carrier, €25–€200.
- MAD → DUBDirect with Iberia. Up to 8kg including the carrier, €25–€300.
- BCN → DUBDirect with Vueling. Up to 10kg including the carrier, €25–€80.
- LIS → DUBDirect with TAP Air Portugal. Up to 8kg including the carrier, €55–€200.
- ATH → DUBNothing direct. One stop via BRU with Brussels Airlines.
- ZRH → DUBNothing direct. One stop via CDG with Air France.
- VIE → DUBNothing direct. One stop via AMS with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
What happens when you land
If nobody has been told your dog is coming, nobody comes to check it, and you cannot leave the baggage hall until an official has. File the Advance Notice Portal and email petmove@agriculture.gov.ie at least 24 hours before you fly. A Department of Agriculture officer meets you between 07:00 and 21:00 to check the health certificate, scan the chip and confirm the tapeworm treatment (24 to 120 hours before arrival). Land before 07:30 and you wait in the baggage hall. Outside those hours Lissenhall Kennels does the check for a fee.
- Where you can land
- DUB, SNN, ORK
- Who checks the dog
- Department of Agriculture staff meet you in the terminal between 07:00 and 21:00 (courtesy phone opposite carousel 6 in T1, carousel 2 in T2). They check the health certificate, scan the chip and confirm the tapeworm treatment.
- Out of hours
- Outside 07:00 to 21:00 the check is done by Lissenhall Kennels, lissenhallkennels@gmail.com, +353 1 840 1776, for a fee. Land before 07:30 and you wait.
- Who to call
- petmove@agriculture.gov.ie · +353 1 607 2827 · +353 87 417 8986
Book on the airline’s own site. Always.
Your dog has to be added to the booking and confirmed against a limit that applies per flight, not per aircraft, and a third-party seller generally can’t do either of those things. People book somewhere cheaper, find there’s no way to add the dog, and end up trying to change a ticket the airline never sold them. When a flight is cancelled or a connection goes, you want to be talking to the airline, not to a reseller who is talking to the airline on your behalf.
We don’t sell flights, and we don’t want to. Every link we give you goes to the airline.
Where this comes from
- The tapeworm tablet, timed to when you land, official source, read 2026-09-13.
- Ireland entry requirements, official source, read 2026-09-10.
Rules change without much warning. Check the official page before you fly, and if you find something out of date, tell Daisy.