Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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151. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide in tabular form a list of all professional fees, including but not limited to legal, consultancy, IT related, advisory, advertising and accountancy; the company name and the amount invoiced between 1 June 2012 and 31 May 2013. [34546/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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My Department engages professional services in a number of areas where the required skills are not available in-house and it is more cost-effective to source them externally. Details of payments in the period in question are included in the tables below in respect of Vote 27 (International Cooperation) and Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade). There are also costs incurred on professional fees at missions abroad where advice is sought from time to rime on a range of local matters.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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152. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide in tabular form a breakdown of all third level courses, training programmes and courses and accompanying cost for the 2012/2013 academic year 1 September 2012 to 30 June 2013 provided for employees of his Department. [34562/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the following table:

Expenditure on Third Level Courses and Training Programmes Sept 2012 to June 2013

Refunds of fees arise in cases where staff of the Department undertake qualifying third-level courses in their own time and receive financial assistance under a scheme sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade strongly encourages and supports its staff in this regard, particularly where courses are directly relevant to the work of the Department. Courses currently funded include public policy & management, international law, aspects of development cooperation, international relations and European affairs.

Given the nature of diplomatic service my Department also makes a significant investment in language tuition. Expenditure under this heading was higher than usual in 2012 in the lead-up to Ireland’s EU Presidency, when additional courses on chairing meetings and negotiation skills were also provided. Other courses and training programmes regularly delivered include a comprehensive pre-posting training programme with modules on trade promotion, economic themes, provision of consular services, personal safety, public diplomacy and human rights. Training is also routinely provided for staff in key areas such as management development, performance management, leadership, positive working environment, macro-economics, communication skills, social media and customer service. In-house expertise is used wherever possible.