Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will raise with his EU counterparts at the Council of Ministers, the desirability of having a common EU policy or set of guidelines for dealing with fatalities that occur when EU citizens are on holidays, in employment or on business in other member states in order that the next-of-kin has some direction when dealing with the logistics of the tragedy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29778/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The core objective of the Department of Foreign Affairs in providing consular services is to assist and protect the interests of Irish citizens who live or travel abroad. In providing consular services, the Department is guided by a number of international agreements which established international norms for the treatment of non-nationals by host countries. They also prescribe rights of states in acting to protect the interests of its citizens abroad. The foremost amongst these is the Vienna Convention On Consular Relations which was incorporated into Irish law in 1967.

The Department has a network of diplomatic missions abroad and one of the principal purposes of a mission is to provide consular services to Irish citizens. The main consular services provided by our embassies and consulates abroad include issuing emergency passports; assistance to victims of serious accidents, illnesses or crime; assisting people detained, arrested or imprisoned abroad; transferring funds to Irish citizens abroad where conventional means are unreliable or non-existent; repatriation of Irish citizens in emergency circumstances; and assistance in connection with deaths abroad and the return of remains to Ireland. However, it is the right of every state, including Ireland, to make its own domestic law and many countries have administrative, legal and law enforcement systems different from those in Ireland. These reflect local customs and practices. Those laws and requirements must of course be respected when an Irish citizen travels abroad.

The Department has been involved in the negotiations at the EU consular affairs working group meetings on the drawing up of guidelines on closer consular co-operation between member states. These negotiations were the basis for the declaration in the European Council on 16-17 December 2004, which confirmed the importance of intensified consular co-operation amongst member states in normal times and in times of crises, thus helping them to deal more effectively with the increasing demand for consular services. These discussions on consular issues are ongoing within the consular affairs working group and at the high-level meeting of consular officials held during each Presidency.

I assure the Deputy that the Department will continue to work closely with other member states to streamline procedures for dealing with common problems, including fatalities, faced by EU citizens in other member states.