Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I join the Chairman in welcoming Deputies Brendan Smith and Seán Crowe as members of the select committee. I had an opportunity at a meeting of the Joint Committee on European Affairs Committee to have a discussion with Deputy Crowe in his new capacity and I look forward to working with both Deputies.

Our exchanges this afternoon represents another step in the ongoing reform of the budgetary process. As the Chairman has stated, this is the first time an Oireachtas committee has discussed the formation of the annual departmental Estimates in advance of the finalisation of the budget. I am pleased to have the opportunity to participate and I will bear the views of members in mind in considering the distribution of the funds allocated to my Department. I hope the members can agree that this is not the occasion for a debate on wider Government budgetary policy. There will be an opportunity for such a debate the week after next in the House and, therefore, I will confine my remarks today to the priorities and resourcing of my Department for 2013.

As part of the performance budgeting system, we presented more detail in the 2012 Estimates on our expenditure plans and on the relationship between money being spent and targets being achieved. A range of relevant indicators provide benchmarks against which the performance of the Department can be measured. While this approach is still in its formative stages, I hope members are finding it helpful and I believe it will contribute to greater public understanding of the Department's work.

In preparing the Estimates for 2013, we will again set ambitious, attainable targets that reflect the programme for Government, are in line with the Department's statement of strategy and take account of the available resources. The new budgetary procedures operate within the framework of the overall limits on Government spending which, as members know, are set in accordance with the troika programme. Within that overall amount, expenditure ceilings were set for each Department for 2013 in the comprehensive expenditure report last November. For the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that amounts to €733 million for delivery of the diverse range of citizen services, economic promotion, programme management and policy advisory functions discharged by the Department across the globe. That ceiling is also fixed. Any increase for one programme is necessarily at the expense of another activity. Members can be assured that I will be working to ensure that we get the maximum value from the available funds.

In July, my Department forwarded to the committee a working-through of the implications of the comprehensive expenditure report on the allocations for 2013. The overall level of reduction foreseen was €27.7 million across the two Votes for which I am responsible. At the request of the committee, we modelled the impact of a pro rata reduction across the various departmental programmes. The effect on the services we deliver and the outcomes we pursue is described in the accompanying commentary.

International co-operation, funded under Vote 27, is the largest programme administered by the Department. Despite the pressures of recent years, the aid programme is independently rated as one of the most effective in the world. It is sharply focused on the fight against hunger and poverty in some of the poorest countries, with a clear geographic concentration on sub-Saharan Africa. The Government is committed to keeping development at the heart of Ireland’s foreign policy and to maintaining the focus on Africa. Last year, I launched the Department’s new Africa strategy. We are now using our resources at home and in our network of missions across the continent to broaden our relations with African countries to encompass political engagement, a strong focus on development issues and the building of new economic and trading links.

We are also completing our review of the 2006 White Paper on Irish Aid, an important commitment in the programme for Government. The public consultation process for the review underscored the strong levels of support for the aid programme, even at a time of great economic difficulty at home, and the recognition that it operates in the interests of the poorest people and communities in the world, but also in our interests as a small country in an increasingly interdependent world.

In the most challenging of circumstances, the Government has succeeded in maintaining Ireland’s official development assistance above 0.5% of GNP. We remain committed to reaching the UN target of 0.7% as soon as we possibly can, based on the restoration of sustained economic growth domestically. We will continue to play a strong role in the formation of international development policy, especially when we take on the role of EU Presidency in the first half of 2013. During the Presidency, I look forward in particular to opening up the debate across Europe on the millennium development goals and the shape of policy for global development after 2015. In doing so, this country will continue to emphasise the centrality to international development of the fight against hunger and undernutrition, and the lessons we have learned from our own work on the ground in Africa and elsewhere since the establishment of the aid programme 40 years ago, in 1973.

On emergency humanitarian needs, this country will continue to respond as quickly and as effectively as we have over many years. We have learned many lessons from our interventions ranging from the Asian tsunami to the earthquake in Haiti, which we continue to put into practice in situations as diverse as Syria and Sudan. We have helped save countless lives and also built the capacity of communities to withstand future shocks through our work on building resilience. In Somalia in July I witnessed at first hand how devastated communities can almost miraculously rebuild if they have the means and help that we can offer. We will continue to offer that vital assistance.

This country's ongoing high profile on international peace, security and human rights issues consolidates and enhances the positive image the State has traditionally enjoyed abroad and sends a strong message about our capacity to work through our economic difficulties. Our largest financial commitment in this area relates to our contribution to the UN and other organisations. The actual amount is hard to predict as it depends on a number of variables, including the adoption of a new contribution key later this year, the number and scale of UN peacekeeping missions and on the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar. Our chairmanship-in-office of the OSCE culminates with the major challenge of the ministerial meeting in Dublin in early December. We assume the Presidency of the European Union in the new year. We are running a strong campaign for membership of the Human Rights Council. That election is scheduled for next month and the outcome will have a bearing on our internal resource deployment.

The EU Presidency is probably the single biggest project for 2013, not just for my Department but across the system, including for the Oireachtas. Management of the Presidency will place enormous demands on staff in my Department at home and abroad. We aim to optimise the cost-effectiveness of the Presidency and have taken a number of measures to reduce outgoings as much as possible. These include the use of Dublin Castle and similar State-owned venues to host all meetings in Ireland. We have temporarily doubled the number of staff in the permanent representation in Brussels but have squeezed the additional personnel into the existing premises.

The indications are that we should be able to adhere to the original budget of €60 million across all Departments over two years, which is appreciably less than the cost of our previous Presidency in 2004. There will be a separate budget for security. A successful Presidency coupled with the ongoing promotion of our business interests will further our efforts to communicate our economic progress to a global audience. We are working closely with the relevant semi-State bodies and local authorities in a co-operative fashion. We are also considering some helpful sponsorship offers that will reduce some of the cost.

The passport service is now servicing a record level of demand more cost-effectively and within the turnaround times guaranteed for applicants. My Department is pursuing a number of further technology-based service enhancements. These include moving to a new counter appointments service instead of the existing queuing arrangement and the introduction of an online renewal option for adults. These improvements, and the already overdue replacement of production machinery, will require some initial capital investment. While individual situations are impossible to predict, we are planning on the basis that we will need to respond to something of the order of 1,500 serious consular cases next year and will stand ready to respond to large-scale emergencies that might arise.

Recent events in Northern Ireland are a reminder of the journey that remains to be travelled on the path to reconciliation on this island. The reconciliation and anti-sectarianism funds are focused on the most disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland. This includes engagement with young people, especially those living in at-risk areas. Support is being provided to projects in interface areas designed to address the root causes of sectarianism and which are aimed at breaking down barriers between communities. In addition, the funds will be used in the promotion of North-South co-operation and linkages and as a support to commemoration events.

Delivery of all of these programmes relies heavily on the work of the officials in my Department at home and abroad. Even allowing for the temporary additional posts sanctioned for the Presidency, the Department is managing an unprecedented conjuncture of major international responsibilities with some 10% fewer staff than it had three years ago. This is placing exceptional demands on personnel, the majority of whom are engaged in providing direct services to Irish citizens and business or supporting delivery of the Irish Aid programme to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. The pressures we face have necessitated a nimble response. We have consolidated and streamlined functions at headquarters. Abroad, the level and scale of our representation has necessarily been reduced in some locations and, regrettably, we were obliged to close three missions at the end of last year.

We have also proactively taken a range of other measures to reduce our cost base and maximise the return for each euro we spend. The administrative cost of delivery of the Department’s services has been reduced by approximately a fifth in the past three years. The search for further efficiencies continues unceasingly but realistically there are limits to the additional economies that can be made without adverse impact on service delivery. The level of funding foreseen for 2013 is going to force us to make further hard choices in the Department. Until the final budgetary arithmetic and some of the other variables I have mentioned are crystallised, I cannot be more precise as to where the adjustments will fall.

I trust that the committee will understand the challenges facing me, as they face all Ministers, and that we can work together to ensure that we achieve the best possible outcomes on foreign affairs and trade with the resources available to us.