Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The total number of staff in the Department is 1,580. That includes 314 locally recruited staff in missions abroad as well as over 150 temporary clerical officers to meet the seasonal demand in the Passport Office. Deputy McLoughlin has raised an important point and it is one we keep under review. We recently reviewed the operation of our single diplomat missions which have worked well but there are recommendations and we hope to ensure that they have sufficient support from our headquarters here to help them prioritise their business engagements. We do not have any plans to expand that model but we will keep the situation under review.

Deputy Durkan will not be surprised to know that most of the freedom of information requests are from the media and members of the public.