Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 33: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 44 of 21 April 201, the number of Irish diplomatic staff in the Irish embassies in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Cairo that have a level of proficiency in Arabic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10962/11]

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 34: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 44 of 21 April 2011, the number of translators employed by the embassies in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Cairo; the cost to employ them each year by translator; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10963/11]

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 35: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of diplomatic staff currently employed, by staff grade level, in the Irish embassy in Brasilia and the honorary consulate in Sao Paulo; the standard of language proficiency required of staff posted to embassies in which the native spoken language is not their own first language; the number of the Irish diplomatic staff that have this level of proficiency in Portuguese in the embassy in Brasilia and the honorary consulate in Sao Paulo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10964/11]

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 36: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of diplomatic staff currently employed, by staff grade level, in the Irish embassy in Moscow; the standard of language proficiency required of staff posted to embassies in which the native spoken language is not their own first language; the number of the Irish diplomatic staff that have this level of proficiency in Russian in the embassy in Moscow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10965/11]

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 37: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of diplomatic staff currently employed, by staff grade level, in the Irish embassy in New Delhi and the honorary consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata and Bangalore; the standard of language proficiency required of staff posted to embassies in which the native spoken language is not their own first language; the number of the Irish diplomatic staff that have this level of proficiency in Hindi in the embassy in New Delhi and the honorary consulates in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10966/11]

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 38: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of diplomatic staff currently employed, by staff grade level, in the Irish embassy in Beijing and the general consulate in Shanghai and honorary consulate in Hong Kong; the standard of language proficiency required of staff posted to embassies in which the native spoken language is not their own first language; the number of the Irish diplomatic staff that have this level of proficiency in Chinese in the embassy in Beijing and the general consulate in Shanghai and the honorary consulate in Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10967/11]

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 39: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of translators employed by the embassies in Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Moscow, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong; the cost to employ them each year by translator; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10968/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 33 to 39, inclusive, together.

The limited staff and financial resources available to my Department do not allow officers to be sent on long term intensive language training as is the case in larger and better resourced foreign services. Nor do we have the range of posts which would allow an officer to pursue a career in one particular foreign language zone.

Nevertheless, foreign language proficiency is one of the attributes that are taken into consideration by my Department when selecting officers for posting abroad. Officers wishing to be considered for posting are required to notify their language skills with their applications. The Department's Training Unit assists and facilitates staff in improving their foreign language proficiency levels both prior to and during foreign assignments. All staff working in these missions would have some facility in the local language. A number have reasonable to good fluency.

Honorary Consuls and their staff are not State employees.

Our Missions abroad employ local clerical and administrative staff who are required to translate and interpret for diplomatic staff as and when required, as well as providing consular and other services in English and in the local languages. None of our Missions listed employ dedicated Translators.

The number and grades of staff posted from Headquarters to the missions referred to by the Embassy are as follows.