The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has welcomed the announcement that the Irish passport is ranked fifth highest in the world, in the Henley Passport Index, and fourth in Arton’s  global passport index.
  
These rankings measure passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free. The Passport Service has invested in a three year comprehensive Passport Reform Programme running up to 2019.  

The Government says this ambitious programme has seen major technological, customer-focused changes in the past few years. In particular, the Passport Online Renewal Service, which was launched in March 2017, now allows adults renewing their passports to do so anywhere in the world, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  
  
Welcoming the announcement, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney said, "I am very proud to see the Irish passport ranked fourth and fifth respectively in two prestigious global rankings. The ranking demonstrates again the value and power of the Irish passport and how well it is regarded internationally." 
  
The Minister went to further claim that the system is user-friendly, secure and applications are currently being processed in less than the target 10 working days, plus postage time.
  
Source: www.businessworld.ie