Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide, in tabular form if possible, a list of the bank accounts used by his Department and separately any agencies within the remit of his Department; the purpose of each bank account and the financial institution the bank account is with; the total amount of any interest charged or bank fees incurred by his Department and separately by each agency in 2011 and anticipated figure for 2012; the percentage of payments issued by his Department and each agency which are issued electronically and if the Department agency has any special arrangement in place on the issue of bank charges and fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44850/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade operates a number of Bank accounts at home and also at each diplomatic mission. At Headquarters level, the Department has accounts with the following banks:

The Department has 73 Missions abroad each of which operate local bank accounts in accordance with the local operating environment. Those accounts are held in reputable local banks, which are often associated with an international banking group

The total amount of fees paid in 2011, which were in respect of transactions totalling approximately €765 million, is shown in the following table:

Similar amounts have been budgeted for 2012

At headquarters, all payments made to suppliers are issued electronically. A small number of passport fee refunds are issued by cheque (EUR) or bank draft (GBP). The method of payment through mission bank accounts varies according to local practise, with most larger disbursements being made electronically.