John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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138. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of embassies and consulates of Ireland operating at present; how this compared with the number at the time of the launch of the Global Island strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15450/25]

Noel McCarthy (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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161. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number and location of new Irish embassies and consulates planned for opening before the end of 2029; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15360/25]

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Question No. 138 is grouped with Question No. 161 but the other Deputy is not present.

John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Thank you very much, a Cheann Comhairle. I wish you well, and it is good to see you back in the Chair.

How many embassies and consulates is Ireland operating and how does this compare with the number at the time of the launch of the Global Ireland strategy?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 138 and 161 together.

I thank Deputy Clendennen for this question, which is timely because now more than ever, at a time when some countries are choosing to look inwards, it is so important that Ireland continues to look outwards and increase our global footprint. Global Ireland 2025 was launched by the Government in 2018 with the aim of doubling Ireland’s footprint and impact by 2025. Under the strategy, Ireland’s diplomatic footprint has expanded significantly. We have gone from 73 to 100 bilateral missions, with the opening or announcement of 27 new missions.

In March 2024, new diplomatic missions were announced, including embassies in Belgrade and Sarajevo and consulates general in Málaga and Melbourne. These missions are scheduled to be fully operational by 2027. There has been additional strengthening of strategically important diplomatic missions, including in Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris and Washington DC.

Over 20 State agency offices were also opened over this period in addition to strong consolidation of the Ireland House model, where we co-locate Ireland's embassy or mission with a relevant State agency, such as the IDA or Enterprise Ireland. We have most recently opened Ireland Houses in New York and Stockholm and I am pleased to confirm that a new Ireland House in Tokyo will open in the coming weeks. The benefits of co-locating Team Ireland under one roof are enormous. I have seen this at first hand. To have everybody working on the ground - IDA, Tourism Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the ambassador and the embassy - under one roof really does make a difference. We have set out our commitment in the programme for Government to further developing this Ireland House model.

The programme for Government commits the Government to further strengthening Ireland’s place in Europe and around the world. Under this, the Government will develop a new strategy called Global Ireland 2040, which will further enhance our place and influence in international affairs, including ever-deeper relationships with our European partners. Some preparatory work has commenced on this and we will start by reviewing the final outputs from Global Ireland 2025. The new strategy will be designed and delivered as a whole-of-government approach to Ireland's engagement with the world.

Consideration to the location of more potential new missions will be based on an analysis of how they might contribute to the promotion of our economic interests, our values in a changing and uncertain international landscape, the promotion of our culture and building stronger bridges with our diaspora.

When it comes to the United States of America, from my memory, and I think I am right, we are second only to France in terms of the number of consulates we have there. That is going to serve us in good stead as we continue to build our people-to-people links, our economic links and our links with individual states. We are second only to France, which is not bad for a country, in this jurisdiction, of just 5.6 million people. That is a sign of the investment we have put into our diplomatic footprint.

As well as opening new missions, which is important and we will be doing more and are committed to doing more, expanding the existing missions in a strategic and intelligent way is important. When I was Minister for higher education, I made the point that we need to have talent attachés located in key areas who could work with universities and the research and innovation communities to build links between universities, encourage student mobility and encourage more of the best and brightest to work on ideas. I am delighted that now we are seeing the first two talent attachés, one located in San Francisco and the other in Washington DC. Both of them are going to be in place this year.

John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Tánaiste. We have made fantastic progress in this area and it is commendable what has been achieved with respect to bolstering our global footprint. That whole Ireland House system has been a wonderful initiative, and it has never been more needed given our ever-changing and ever-shifting global priorities.

When you speak to members of the diaspora, you get a great sense of pride and appreciation for what is achieved through our embassies. Sometimes it goes beyond monetary value. There is a tie back to the homeland, but also people living in those countries maybe feel a connection to Ireland that would not have been there previously. That is something we have to grow on. We are also seeing at first hand what embassies are doing on the ground, whether it be Irish lessons in Auckland or the likes of a film festival in Germany. I had an encounter recently with our local OFFline Film Festival committee, who got the opportunity to travel to Berlin and engage on the ground, giving them an experience of seeing things at first hand. It is a very important initiative and one we should continue.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Clendennen is so right. Not only should we be extraordinarily proud of our diaspora, as we are, but as a country we have done quite a good job of keeping the links and investing. Other countries ask Ireland about our diaspora strategies and how they can learn from and work with us on that. Ours is one of the few countries that has an emigrant support programme, where we provide relatively small sums of money to diaspora programmes abroad. It makes a real impact on them. I am very proud to see that when I go abroad.

I also want to take the opportunity that Deputy Clendennen's question presents and pay tribute to the men and women who represent us overseas. I mean this very sincerely. I am always very proud when I travel abroad representing Ireland. We turn up as Ministers, taoisigh and tánaistí. We are often there for an event, or the Ceann Comhairle is. We come in and do the event and it is all very pleasant, we work hard and then we go home. The men and women who are there all the time represent Ireland in good times and bad, in challenging and sometimes dangerous environments, speaking up for Ireland and our values, and being there at times of great celebration and jubilation but also times of great tragedy. I am often struck by the very positive feedback I often get from citizens of this country on how they experienced Ireland through the form of our diplomats and local teams at times of tragedy, bereavement or loss. I want to say, I am sure on behalf of all of us, a huge "go raibh míle maith agaibh" to everybody who works in our diplomatic missions right across the world. I know they can work in far-flung parts of this world. We are very proud of all that they do.

John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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When you look at days like St. Patrick's Day and what it achieves in reaching every corner of the world, the more locations where we can have a presence and be able to promote Ireland that way, the better. It also opens an opportunity for greater connectivity around the world. When you see the number of people who are coming here to work from the likes of South America, there is a real opportunity here, through balanced regional development, to create connectivity to other parts of the world that is not there already.

We have seen how the Tánaiste's initiative with the trade consultants group in the US is reaffirming our commitment to the US. There is an opportunity now, considering the current juncture with regard to tariffs, to see how we can develop that further with regional locations around the globe to tie into our diaspora and networks that are connected back to Ireland, to continue to ensure we improve cultural ties and that business network, and to encourage investment back to Ireland through the likes of the IDA. Counties like Offaly have a balance with regard to the IDA that is not just American investment. It is important that we continue that.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Clendennen is so right. That regional aspect is important to all that we do, making sure that we drive jobs and investment but also cultural and people-to-people links, not just with the big cities but also with the regions of Ireland and counties like Offaly. I would be very happy to work with the Deputy, chambers of commerce, Offaly County Council and others on how we might explore that as well.

When I was out in Philadelphia and New York for the St. Patrick's Day period, there was a great sense of pride of many local authorities there representing their county. That is important too. That building of those people-to-people links, that diaspora and that huge sense of pride that people abroad have, not just of being from Ireland but exactly where they or where their grandmother was from in Ireland, are things that we should never take for granted. The Deputy is right. As we enter this challenging period economically, we should look to strengthen the people-to-people links even further and build up those regional and local links economically and culturally. That is important, and I look forward to working with the Deputy on that.