We grade Ireland Easy with paperwork at twelve passengers and Demanding at twenty. It is the same boat at both counts.
Country12 passengers20 passengers
IrelandAt twelve passengers, 12Easy with paperworkAt twenty passengers, 20Demanding
Who you deal with
The Marine Survey Office within the Department of Transport in Dublin. Inland navigations are administered by Waterways Ireland.
At twelve passengers
A Passenger Boat Licence in classes P1 to P6, surveyed by a departmental marine surveyor. It costs €144 including the survey and lasts two years, which makes it the cheapest passenger-carrying route on this list. No stability book is demanded beyond what the surveyor asks for, no change to the boat, and no classification society.
At twenty passengers
A Passenger Ship Certificate, an annual survey, and a certificate of survey from two or more approved surveyors. The annual interval alone is materially more onerous than the British five-year certificate.
Who may drive it
A valid certificate with a commercial endorsement. The requirements above twelve passengers we could not establish.
Hiring it out without a crew
Not established, though there is strong circumstantial evidence that a lighter route exists: Ireland has a large Shannon hire-cruiser industry whose boats carry no passenger boat licence, and two 2002 statutory instruments set out the exemptions.
Where the engine matters
We found no Irish engine restriction.
We researched these rules for the LR9 Safari, a river and lake boat.
What the marks mean
Easy with paperwork
The boat needs a national licence or certificate of its own, sometimes after an examination against a defined list. Usually days to weeks, modest fees, and no change to the boat expected.
Demanding
A full passenger ship survey, and in one country a classification society. Budget months rather than weeks, and expect real engineering work on the boat.
30 of the 31 European countries here were read against an official source or the statute itself, current at 16 August 2026. Cyprus was not, and says so in its own row. The countries under Beyond Europe are market research and are not confirmed with their own authorities. Where only one passenger count is established (Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta), the missing half says so too. None of this is legal advice and the final word is your own authority's, so do your own research beyond what is listed here — or ask us and we will confirm your country before you commit to anything.
