Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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157. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will set out in tabular form for each year 2011 and 2012, the cost, by country, of operating embassies, consulates, chanceries and other diplomatic representation, showing under separate headings for each country, premises, costs, salaries and earnings, and other costs. [18434/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Ireland’s 73 missions abroad perform a wide range of functions in pursuit of Ireland’s foreign policy interests. These include representing and advancing government policies with other States and in international organisations, in particular the EU and UN; economic and cultural promotion; frontline consular and passport services to Irish citizens overseas; engaging with Irish communities abroad and harnessing the resource they offer in assisting economic recovery; and programme management, particularly in the Irish Aid priority countries. In 2012 there was an overall reduction in administrative costs of €0.57m for the diplomatic network. The figures in these tables include all expenditure items charged to Mission budgets. Salary and related costs of staff posted from Ireland are not included as they are a charge on the overall budget of the Department rather than on a specific Mission. Likewise, capital expenditure is not included as such expenditure does not form part of the Mission’s budget.

A number of Missions manage significant programmes on behalf of Irish Aid and their effective implementation necessarily entails additional management and oversight costs which are included in the figures provided below.

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