Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I apologise that I am not the Tánaiste, in more ways than one. My personal experience of the Embassy in the Vatican was very positive. It was extraordinarily efficient and the staff were very courteous. They did their best to fulfil any request that was made. That should be put on the record.

I apologise that the script of my reply is not yet available. It will be provided to the Deputy.

The decision of the Government to close the Embassy of Ireland to the Holy See, as well as Ireland's Embassy in Tehran and our mission in East Timor, was taken following a review of overseas missions carried out by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which gave particular attention to the economic return from bilateral missions. While the review identified the negative repercussions of closing any overseas mission it was not possible to avoid some cutbacks in our mission network, given the pressing need to reduce Government expenditure across the board.

It is important to make clear that we have not cut off diplomatic relations with the Holy See. We have simply decided that in the present circumstances our ambassador will operate on a non-residential basis. This decision to change our representation to the Holy See to non-resident status was driven by economic factors derived from our need to cut public expenditure and to focus the modest resources of our diplomatic service on economic recovery.

The total cost saving in a full year is estimated to be, as the Deputy has already stated, €845,000, of which €400,000 will come from the closure of the resident Embassy to the Holy See and €445,000 from savings on rental arising from the transfer of the Embassy to Italy to the State-owned Villa Spada. The wind-down of the resident Embassy to the Holy See and the transfer of the embassy have been completed.

In addition to the immediate financial saving, the nature of the responsibilities of the Embassy to the Holy See, particularly the fact that it is not involved in consular work or trade promotion, makes it more suitable than most embassies to be covered by non-resident accreditation. No one pretends this is an ideal arrangement but it is the most cost effective in the current budgetary situation.

Notwithstanding the differences that arose between successive Irish Governments and the Holy See in recent years, the decision to close the embassy was not taken in response to these differences. If the Government had wanted to make such a statement it would have done so far more clearly and at the time.

The Government's decision to nominate the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. David Cooney, as our non-resident ambassador means he will be ideally placed to inform the Government of any potential issues with the Vatican, thereby helping to head off difficulties in the future. The Holy See has agreed Mr. Cooney's nomination and it is expected that he will present his credentials to Pope Benedict in May. Mr. Cooney has travelled to Rome twice since his nomination for meetings with Vatican officials and will represent the State at the Consistory of Cardinals on Saturday 18 February. On his previous visit he attended the ordination of the incoming Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, by Pope Benedict and conveyed to Archbishop Brown the best wishes of the President, Government and people of Ireland. The Government looks forward to working closely with Archbishop Brown, who arrived in Ireland last week, in his roles as Apostolic Nuncio and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. I understand he is to present his credentials to President Higgins on 16 February.

The Government will continue to review our diplomatic network, including, as the financial situation improves, the possibility of reopening a resident Embassy to the Holy See on a more modest and cost effective basis.

I hope this answer satisfies the Deputy.

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