Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you very much, Mr. Staunton. I will ask you one question briefly before I hand over to Deputy Brendan Smith. You remarked in your introduction on the small number of diplomatic staff we have in the United States. I have been to most of the consular offices and the Washington office as well. Given the big geographical area in the United States, from east to west and from north to south, there are areas where we lack consular offices. Let us consider Texas, which is almost the size of France and a country in itself, as well as various other states. Where do you see potential to establish more consular offices in the United States?

People talk a good deal about Asia at the moment and say it is the place to do business. Jakarta and Bangkok are mentioned as places where we do not have a diplomatic presence. Is it better to have a small network of embassies than no embassies? For example, is a one-man embassy with one local staff member better than none? Is it better to have a presence anyway rather than have no presence?

At the end of your contribution you referred to Iveagh House not cultivating enough of a relationship with diplomats. The members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade have a special relationship with the foreign diplomats based here. We meet them on a regular basis and they come to meetings regularly as well. It is an area that is working well. You can answer my questions with those of Deputy Smith.