Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I am aware of the situation concerning the person referred to by Deputy Ó Fearghaíl and have already addressed this matter on a number of occasions previously. As the person referred to is not an Irish citizen, it is not possible for my Department to offer him consular assistance. The Greek authorities are under no legal obligation to assist our embassy with any requests made in connection with this investigation as we have no locus standi in the matter.

However, on hearing of the predicament faced by this person, and notwithstanding the fact that he is not a citizen of Ireland, the Irish embassy in Athens made contact with the Greek police in an effort to convey the Irish Government's interest in this case on the basis that he is married to an Irish citizen. It was made clear to our embassy that the authorities in Crete would not provide them with any information regarding this investigation owing to the fact that no Irish citizen was involved in the case.

To clarify further, the embassy has certain rights of communication and contact with Irish citizens in Greece to facilitate the exercise of our consular functions under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The embassy has no such rights for other persons, even if they are related to Irish citizens.

See this speech in context