Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank each and every Senator for their contributions and support for the general thrust of the Bill. Senator Joe O'Reilly mentioned the skills and commitment of staff across the diplomatic missions, in particular in the EU in the context of the work they are doing on Brexit. I echo those words. My experience of visiting a number of diplomatic missions, not alone in the EU but across the United States, is that we have an extraordinarily talented and committed team of people in each of those locations who work morning, noon and night in Ireland's interests. It is certainly the case that, in terms of Brexit and the need to keep Ireland's interests at the very heart of the ongoing negotiations, our diplomatic missions across the EU are doing an extraordinary job and making people very much aware of the unique challenges we face as a country and how best our EU partners can work with us in addressing them.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh raised some valid points to which I will respond. The general thrust of the legislation is to bring the human resources issues that arise in diplomatic missions in this country and in our missions abroad into line with international best practice. Senator Ó Clochartaigh posed some questions which I will address individually. He asked why we are seeking to exclude members of diplomatic missions and their families from mainstream immigration and citizenship arrangements. In accordance with international best practice, in the norm, members of those missions and their families are required to be exempted from the normal immigration controls, as one might expect. That is the case under international law, including under the Vienna Convention. Consequently, there is no application process for those individuals to come to the State, with the sending state effectively at liberty to appoint staff of its own choosing. Such staff also enjoy extensive tax exemptions, including in relation to PAYE, USC, local property tax and in some cases VAT. Clearly, that is a category of people who are quite distinct from those who come to the State through the normal mainstream immigration channels.

Eligibility for citizenship is a matter for each state to decide individually. Ireland shares the view with many countries that the spirit of the Vienna Convention envisages people coming to the State as employees of a foreign government for a finite period and then returning to that country or other country on assignment. In those circumstances it is considered appropriate to exclude them from mainstream citizenship arrangements, just as they are exempt from immigration controls, one being a logical corollary of the other. In effect, employees of foreign governments are deemed to the responsibility of those governments.

All speakers spoke about the importance of ensuring that we protect the employment rights of all the staff working in diplomatic missions on Irish soil. They cited some rare but significant abuses of such workers' rights in the past. Senator Ó Clochartaigh inquired whether a member of staff of a diplomatic mission whose right to remain in the State is linked to his or her employment could in itself lead to potential vulnerability to exploitation. A number of safeguards are in place to guard against that, including the Department's procedures to protect domestic workers in diplomatic households that were introduced in 2014. It should also be recalled that there have been instances where former staff members of diplomatic missions have been permitted to remain in the State on humanitarian grounds following the completion of their posting and thus entering the mainstream immigration system. Such requests will always be considered sympathetically, taking into account the individual circumstances of each application. All workers in the State under the Vienna Convention have the same access as other workers to the full range of support services for victims of human trafficking.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh asked about the number of people the Bill will affect directly. We have done a trawl and have come to the conclusion that 1,174 persons have been notified to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the Vienna Convention in diplomatic relations. That includes people working with diplomatic missions as well as their family members. We do not have a precise figure for staff and family members of international organisations within the State because there is no notification requirement akin to the Vienna Convention, but it is estimated to be several hundred. In total, that would mean there are approximately 2,000 people to whom the provision might apply.

I again thank Senators for their contributions. This is a very deliberate attempt to bring existing legislation into line with international best practice. I also thank my colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who have worked hard in drafting the legislation. I hope we will see it move quickly through the Houses and become law.