Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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3. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reasons his Department did not consider reopening the embassy in Iran as part of the further openings announced; the criteria used to prioritise a country for a new embassy or reopening of an embassy previously closed; the costs, including expenses for having an honorary consul as opposed to a small embassy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8240/14]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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My question relates to the criteria used for the reopening of embassies, the opening of new ones and the costs involved, with particular reference to an embassy in Iran.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Ireland’s diplomatic and consular network is at the forefront of efforts to promote our political and economic interests and values and in providing important services for the people and business community. Ireland’s diplomatic network comprises 56 embassies, seven multilateral missions and ten consulates general and other offices. This network will be further expanded as the new missions approved by the Government in January are set up this year. The configuration of the State’s diplomatic and consular network is kept under ongoing review by the Government. A range of factors are taken into account in considering our diplomatic representation overseas, including national political, economic and trade priorities, as well as the availability of resources. This question is also being considered in the context of the review of Ireland’s foreign policy and external relations being undertaken by my Department.

I can confirm that consideration was given to reopening the embassy in Tehran as part of the current expansion of our mission network. However, as I noted during my recent appearance before the Oireachtas Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade to discuss my Department’s revised Estimates for 2014, the current resource constraints do not allow us to have resident representation in all of the locations that might objectively justify it having regard to political, economic and trade factors. The Government is conscious of the political, economic and trade factors that might warrant the opening of resident diplomatic missions in Iran and several other countries. We are conscious also that the change of government in Iran and the subsequent interim agreement on the nuclear issue hold out some promise for a general improvement in Iran’s international relations. The recent visit of a delegation to Tehran by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, in which the Deputy took part, was a recognition and encouragement of that trend.

As the Deputy will probably be aware from her recent visit, my Department appointed an Honorary Consul of Ireland in Tehran in June 2012. Honorary consuls receive an honorarium of €1,125 per annum and are allowed to retain half of the consular fees they collect for the services they provide such as visa or passport applications and the authentication of documents. The costs of providing an honorary consular service are obviously considerably lower than operating a resident diplomatic mission. However, honorary consular representation is of a fundamentally different nature from diplomatic representation and I do not consider it to be a substitute for a resident diplomatic presence.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Would it not have been more logical to wait for the completion of the review of our foreign policy and then to decide which embassies would reopen and where new embassies would be established? I am delighted that the Vatican embassy will reopen, but the criterion in that regard was the fight against global hunger and poverty, which is wonderful. Is this part of the strategy for all embassies? As the Minister acknowledged, Deputies Seán Crowe, Eric Byrne and I visited Iran as part of a delegation recently. Many of us, in particular Government Deputies, were regretful about the closure of the embassy there. It was said that had been done for economic reasons and the impression was given that it would only be a matter of time before it was reopened. We were only back one week when the list of embassy openings and reopenings was announced, with no mention of Iran. The timing was bad in this regard.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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We have a small footprint compared to other countries in respect of our representation abroad. I have expressed the wish to have it expanded, but because we have a small footprint, we have to change it on a continuing basis, as our needs and demands change. The Deputy asked why we could not wait until after the review of foreign policy had been completed. A number of reviews are under way. For example, the review of trade, tourism and investment has been completed and makes it clear that we need to have a greater presence in South-East Asia where we are under represented, South America, Africa arising from our Africa strategy and the United States.

With regard to the timing of the announcement, rotation of diplomatic missions occurs in the summer and, therefore, decisions must be made early in the year. If we did not do so this year, nothing would be implemented until the early part of 2015. For a variety of reasons, including the trade imperative in a number of countries and the review of the millennium development goals which the Deputy mentioned, it is necessary to move on changing the missions now.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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There are concerns among NGOs about the balance between human rights issues and promoting our trade and economic interests. The Minister referred to diplomatic representation being about upholding our values. We went on a trade mission to Iran and there was no difficulty in discussing human rights issues, whether it was the death penalty or conditions in prisons and for prisoners. Human rights must be part of the brief of any delegation that travels abroad, although not in an intrusive, lecturing or hectoring way. However, these issues must be on the agenda in order that we continue to fulfil our commitments on human rights.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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This country has a strong record and reputation internationally for the promotion of human rights and we will maintain this. The promotion of human rights operates in tandem with our trade work. Trade agreements signed by the European Union have a human rights dimension; therefore, we give huge attention to the promotion of human rights in our work on the Human Rights Council.

Iran, the subject of the Deputy's question, is very much on our radar. The location of missions will be kept under review. We considered Iran as part of the latest review and it will be considered in future reviews.