Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that. I had direction experience of that service, on behalf of a constituent, in recent years. One of these honorary consuls, in a place where there is no embassy, dealt with the matter in a very satisfactory way. I often wondered how that is managed. They should receive some recognition of their work. I had direct experience of one of the consuls providing very valuable assistance and contact with somebody in the Department. I thank the Department for that.

My final question relates to Shannon Airport. Is there a cost to the Department of Foreign Affairs in facilitating the American military with its use as a kind of staging post or stopover, mainly for missions to the Middle East? What is that cost per annum?