Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Question 204: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the requirement that a minimum of 90 days expiry remain on a visitor's passport to the Czech Republic after the date of return; if representations have been made to the authorities in that country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12480/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Czech authorities have confirmed that Irish citizens have only to present a valid travel document when entering the Czech Republic and that there is no restriction regarding the length of validity of the passport. This change has been in place since the 1 May 2004 and is in line with the requirements of other EU states.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 205: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the location of Irish diplomatic missions which have an Ireland House; the total operational cost of each Ireland House; the State agencies which are operating from each Ireland House; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12481/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The State agencies operating in Irish diplomatic missions are listed in the following table. The total operational costs given are for the year 2004 and include chancery costs. The State agencies' share of this cost is provided. Operational costs are taken to mean rent, rates, heating, lighting, cleaning, common charges, etc. It does not include salary, telephone or information technology equipment costs. However, in some instances only the rent costs are available with such short notice. It is the policy of my Department to contact State agencies when embassies are being established in new locations to ascertain their interest in participating in an Ireland House project in these new locations.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 206: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Irish embassies and chancelleries that are owned and rented by the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12482/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 17 official residences, seven chanceries and three combined chancery-residence premises are owned by the State. The full list is shown in annex 1. The list of diplomatic premises rented abroad is given in annex 2. It is the policy of my Department to purchase representational offices and official residences abroad where resources allow and where market conditions and value for money considerations favour purchase over rental. This policy is kept under constant review.

Annex 1

Embassy Properties Owned by the State

Athens Residence

Berlin Residence

Berne Residence

Brussels Permanent Representation to the EU

Brussels Residence (Ambassador to Political Security Committee)

Buenos Aires Residence

Canberra Chancery

Canberra Residence

Copenhagen Chancery

Copenhagen Residence

Dar-es-Salaam Residence

The Hague Chancery

The Hague Residence

Holy See combined Chancery/Residence

Lisbon Residence

Lusaka Chancery

Madrid Residence

Maputo Chancery

New York Residence (Permanent Representative to the UN)

Oslo Residence

Ottawa Residence

Paris combined Chancery/Residence

Prague Residence

Riyadh combined Chancery/Residence

Stockholm Residence

Washington Chancery

Washington Residence

Annex 2

Embassy Properties Rented by the State

Abuja combined Chancery/Residence

Addis Ababa Chancery

Addis Ababa Residence

Ankara Chancery

Ankara Residence

Athens Chancery

Beijing combined Chancery/Residence

Berlin Chancery

Berne Chancery

Boston Consulate General

Brasilia Chancery

Brasilia Residence

Bratislava Chancery

Bratislava Residence

Brussels Chancery (Embassy to Belgium)

Brussels Residence (Ambassador to Belgium)

Brussels Residence (Permanent Representative to the EU)

Brussels Residence (Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU)

Budapest Chancery

Budapest Residence

Buenos Aires Chancery

Cairo Chancery

Cairo Residence

Cape Town Chancery

Cape Town Residence

Cardiff Consulate General

Chicago Consulate General

Dar-es-Salaam Chancery

Edinburgh Consulate General

Geneva Permanent Representation to the UN

Geneva Residence

Helsinki Chancery

Helsinki Residence

Kampala Chancery

Kampala Residence

Kuala Lumpur Chancery

Kuala Lumpur Residence

Lisbon Chancery

London combined Chancery/Residence

Ljubljana Chancery

Ljubljana Residence

Lusaka Residence

Luxembourg Chancery

Luxembourg Residence

Madrid Chancery

Maputo Residence

Maseru (Lesotho) Chancery

Maseru Residence

Mexico City Chancery

Mexico City Residence

Moscow combined Chancery/Residence

New Delhi Chancery

New Delhi Residence

New York Consulate General

New York Residence (Consul General)

New York Permanent Representation to the UN

Nicosia Chancery

Nicosia Residence

Oslo Chancery

Ottawa Chancery

Prague Chancery

Pretoria Chancery

Pretoria Residence

Ramallah Representation

Ramallah Residence

Rome Chancery

Rome Residence

San Francisco Consulate General

Seoul Chancery

Seoul Residence

Shanghai Consulate General

Singapore Chancery

Singapore Residence

Stockholm Chancery

Strasbourg Representation to Council of Europe

Strasbourg Residence

Sydney Consulate General

Tallinn Chancery

Tallinn Residence

Tehran Chancery

Tehran Residence

Tel Aviv Chancery

Tel Aviv Residence

Tokyo Chancery

Tokyo Residence

Vienna Chancery

Vienna Residence

Warsaw Chancery

Warsaw Residence

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the average operating cost of an Irish embassy in a European country consisting of an ambassador, a first secretary, third secretary and support staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12483/05]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 208: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the programme which his Department has for the establishment of new diplomatic embassies and delegations in countries in which Ireland is not currently represented by full-time professional diplomats; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12484/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 207 and 208 together.

There are six Irish Embassies in Europe with a staffing contingent made up of an ambassador, a first secretary, a third secretary and support staff. These embassies are located in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey. The average operating cost for these missions in 2004 was €1,002,966.90. Expenditure incurred during Ireland's Presidency of the European Union from 1 January to 30 June 2004 is included in the figure provided. In December 2004, the Government approved the opening of resident missions in Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania and Vietnam. It is intended that these new missions will be opened in the second half of this year. The opening of new Irish missions is considered by the Government on an ongoing basis. As the Deputy will appreciate, however, constraints on Government expenditure, and the limits on the resources that can be made available, require that the expansion of our diplomatic network must be incremental and must be based on a thorough assessment of the costs and benefits involved.