Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I wish to share time with Deputies Ó Snodaigh and Finian McGrath. Like other speakers and particularly Deputy Michael Higgins, I am concerned about the absence of an explanatory memorandum to this Bill. While it is a small Bill with a technical aim we should have received an explanatory memorandum. Its omission is bad practice and should not be repeated in other Bills, particularly coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs which issues so few Bills. I believe this is the first Bill from that Department in the 29th Dáil. If there is to be a second Bill I hope this practice is not repeated.

The Bill is short and seeks to bring Irish law into line with international conventions, particularly the Vienna Convention, which on the surface is something that, as a democratic nation, we should seek to do. We would like our diplomatic representatives to be treated as we treat the representatives of other countries here.

Other speakers have mentioned qualifications to that principle. Our diplomatic service is not directly comparable to that in other countries whether or not they are democracies. Often the officers found in embassies with titles such as "political attaché" or "military attaché" are there to further the interests of their countries rather than engage in diplomatic relations. That is where the quality of such legislation falls down. How can this small country defend itself against that type of abuse? Conversely, how do we protect our diplomatic staff who represent us in less than ideal circumstances in other countries?

This Bill gives us an opportunity to discuss a view probably shared by everyone in the House, namely, the pride we should feel in the quality of our diplomatic representation around the world, at embassy and consular level. Those who have made visits on behalf of this House to other jurisdictions know of the professionalism, talent and commitment of people who work in Irish offices around the world with few resources.

I would have welcomed a wider debate on how we might level the playing field between how we are represented overseas and how we receive representatives of other countries. Ireland is under-represented. It is represented in fewer than half of the countries in the world. It has fewer ambassadors than there are here from other countries. For example, in the next two months Cuba will send an ambassador here yet there is no process or attempt to advance a process that would place an Irish ambassador there.

Our ambassador in Mexico seems to cover the entire Central American region, the northern half of South America as well as the Caribbean area. While this is a small country our representatives should not have to cover half the globe. It is unfortunate that we have not had a more wide-ranging debate to address those issues which are linked to diplomatic representation and immunity for our representatives.

A White Paper on foreign relations and diplomatic representation would have been a good use of Government time. We have received White Papers from the Department of Foreign Affairs on the European question. The US State Department issues annual documents stating its judgment of the countries with which it has diplomatic relations. That approach may be too judgmental.

An annual report of Ireland's relations with various countries would be a good use of the resources of the Department of Foreign Affairs. It would inform us when we come to tabling legislation which increasingly has an international dimension. I would welcome more imagination and initiative on the part of the Government and the Department.

I am concerned about the collective foreign policy and diplomatic representation that seems to occur at an EU level. Some of this makes sense. We can share the facilities of other countries in places where we do not have direct representation but when it becomes a homogenised approach we risk losing the capital we have gained recently as a small neutral country, however one defines that neutrality in the future. We risk becoming an appendage of a European whole that will make compromises on how it presents itself to the wider world.

We are unique and distinct and should use our representation to put across those qualities. If we succeed in that we will benefit not only in terms of our diplomatic stock but economically in terms of how we sell the country as one with which it is worth doing business and as a tourist destination. We should strive to have a standard of representation higher even than that of countries represented here. If we do that we will continue to punch above our weight as we have done with limited resources, few legations, embassies and consular offices around the world.

I hope that in passing this small Bill, irrelevant as it might be to the wider issues, the Department might produce wider policy positions on Ireland's plans for representation overseas.

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