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The Irish passport has climbed from sixth to fourth place in the Henley Passport Index.
The Index measures the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he is “very proud” to see the Irish passport ranking climb, adding that it “demonstrates again the value and power of the Irish passport and how well it is regarded internationally.”
The Fianna Fáil leader said: “I would also like to congratulate the staff of the Passport Service as this achievement reflects the major efforts undertaken at all levels of the Passport Service to protect the integrity of the passport.
“Their work ensures that Irish citizens continue to have access to a secure travel document, while also meeting the challenges of increases in application numbers and the need for technological advancement.”
He added that this year “continues to be a busy year” for the Passport Service and encouraged people to apply for renewals and passports using Passport Online.
“All Irish citizens can renew their passport book and passport card, from anywhere in the world. Irish citizens can also apply for first time passports online if they are resident in more than 70 countries around the world.
“Over 90 percent of citizens now use Passport Online as it is the quickest, cheapest and most efficient way to apply for your passport.”
The current turnaround time for an online simple adult renewal of a passport is 10 days, with the online child or complex adult renewal of a passport taking around 15 working days
For an online first time application – either adult or child – the turnaround is 20 working days while Post Passport via An Post – either adult or child – is 8 weeks.
When an applications may need additional supporting documents, it will be processed in 15 working days.
The turnaround time is measured from the date that supporting documents are received by the Passport Service.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – July 19th