Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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335. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason the number of Irish overseas election observers has fallen in each of the years 2013 to 2016 to date. [15367/16]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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336. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the key criteria and skills necessary for service as an overseas election observer; the criteria used to select observers for specific assignments; if experience and qualifications for a particular mission is the most important factor or if he bases selection lists on the length of time since a person's last assignment. [15368/16]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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337. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason he did not send a long-term observer to monitor the June 2016 Mongolian elections, despite asking for applications; the target number of long-term and short-term observers he will deploy for the remainder of 2016; his plans to replace observers who have resigned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15369/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 335 to 337, inclusive, together.

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 European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The current roster was established in May 2013 for a period of five years following a review of the previous roster and a public call for applicants.

Two assessors external to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with a knowledge of election processes and experience of public service, separately undertook the independent appraisal and scoring of the 263 eligible applications for inclusion in the new roster against the four published criteria, which reflected the broad range of skills required for election observation. These were: experience of election observation; knowledge of human rights and/or governance issues; language skills; and experience of challenging environments.

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. Taking account of members who have left the roster, and those who have been added from the reserve panel, the current roster complement stands at 199 and the reserve panel has been fully utilised.

For each election observation mission, the EU or OSCE set out their specific requirements and, on the basis of the expressions of interest submitted by roster members, the Department draws up a list of nominated observers. In selecting nominees to be put forward, the specific criteria set by the EU or OSCE, including relevant local and regional experience and language proficiency, form the principal basis for decision-making. Issues of gender balance and length of time since serving on a mission are also taken into account. The EU makes the final selection of observers for EU election observation missions.

Various factors influence the numbers of observers deployed each year. In 2013, 72 observers were deployed, 53 in 2014, and 46 in 2015. A total of 15 observers have been deployed to date in 2016 and a further 8 observers are expected to depart in the near future.

The principal reason for the variation in numbers on an annual basis is the number of elections taking place in any given year where the host authorities have extended an invitation to the OSCE or EU to deploy an observation mission. A further factor can be the postponement of planned elections. Most recently, for instance, the planned parliamentary elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were postponed. Ireland had intended to deploy six short term observers to join a long term observer already deployed. In addition, it has happened that nominated observers, for compelling personal reasons, are unable to travel following nomination. It is therefore difficult to provide a specific target for the number of long term and short term observers to be deployed for the rest of 2016, but the intent would be to reach, and hopefully exceed, the 2015 final outturn.

For the parliamentary elections in Mongolia, we decided that the most effective contribution Ireland could make would be to send short term observers. Five Irish observers will travel to Mongolia this month to oversee the elections.