Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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73. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if and on what basis additional persons have been added to the Election Observation Roster since it was established in May 2013; how the assessors involved in the Roster selection were selected and appointed; the number of days they worked for his Department and the daily fee they were paid; if he sought the views of the European Commission on whether this selection process met the high standards expected by the Commission; if the current model of selection will stand up to review such as in a case where an original Roster member who was not selected but who has significantly better qualifications and experience than those who were; if he will arrange for an independent review of the Roster system, including the selection processes; if he will conduct a fresh selection process in 2016 that will include professional interviews to ensure that the Roster is based on merit alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4510/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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International election monitoring missions play an important role in the promotion of democracy and human rights. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade administers a roster of election observers so that Ireland can be represented at an appropriate level in international election observation missions organised in the main by the OSCE and the EU. The current roster was established in May 2013 for a period of five years.

In 2013, two assessors external to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with a knowledge of election processes and experience of public service, undertook the independent appraisal and scoring of applications for inclusion in the new roster against the four criteria. These were: experience of election observation; knowledge of human rights and /or governance issues; language skills; and experience of challenging environments. In the cases where the assessors declared a potential conflict of interest and recused themselves from the assessment of the application in question, two officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade jointly scored the applications in place of the assessor. The assessors were paid fees of €200 per day, over ten days in total, in accordance with the relevant Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular, E12/1/70.

Following the appraisal of all 263 eligible applications, the 200 individuals who achieved the highest scores were selected to serve on the new election observation roster. A reserve panel of the next ten highest scoring individuals was also established, from which replacements would be drawn should any members leave the roster. Since its formation, ten members have left the roster with four replacements appointed to date from the reserve panel. The process of appointing additional replacements is currently underway.

Ireland actively participates in the European Commission and European External Action Service - led European Observation network, which brings together election observation focal points from all EU Member States, together with Norway, Switzerland and Canada. The network facilitates the exchange of information and international best practice on all aspects of election rosters, and helps to ensure that the operation of national rosters conforms to the highest standards. At the most recent meeting of the focal points, last month, the EU confirmed that Ireland continues to be have a high success rate in having its nominees placed on EU Missions.

I am satisfied that all applicants have been treated fairly and impartially and all unsuccessful applicants were invited to request feedback on their applications. Furthermore, the independent review process which was established has facilitated two applicant reviews. In both cases, the reviewer judged that the scoring of both applications was fair and impartial across all four published criteria. In light of these considerations, no legal opinion has been sought on the selection process.

I am confident that the current roster is well equipped to deal with the requirements of the EU. The Department will keep the process under review taking into account developments at EU and OSCE level.