Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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324. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the fact that his Department is paying €46,000 a month to rent an apartment in Tokyo for the Irish ambassador to Japan; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that the ambassador's residence is reportedly more than twice as expensive as any other property rented by his Department in 2015; the reason this is happening; and his plans to rectify this situation. [28562/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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It is important to note that such official properties are not solely or primarily the living quarters of Ireland’s Heads of Mission abroad. They are first and foremost official facilities for use by the Embassies and State Agencies, working together in the promotion of Ireland’s political and economic interests. These official spaces are used extensively to promote our exports and tourism, to attract inward investment, to promote our culture and heritage, to reach out to our diaspora communities, and to build relationships with key contacts and influencers in the countries where we have diplomatic representation.

This is very much the case in Tokyo, where nearly half of the rented space is actually for representational purposes. The State Agencies, in partnership with the Embassy, use this space to showcase Ireland as a centre of excellence in areas such as research and development, fin-tech, ICT, agri-food, tourism and culture. So far in 2016, the Embassy has hosted 32 events and welcomed some 1,214 guests there.

The criteria for selecting official diplomatic accommodation is that it should be centrally located in safe and secure areas, it should have appropriate floor space for representational functions, as well as living quarters for the Head of Mission and his/her family, that the rent should be in line with local market rates and that it should be available for extensive use by the embassy and the State agencies for official events.

Once a location has been identified, it is reviewed by the relevant HQ unit in Dublin against these criteria, with cost, location and suitability being the key factors in deciding whether or not to grant approval to proceed with the lease.

Rental prices are based on floor space. The space in Tokyo consists of 720.45 square metres, 302.22 sq. metres of which are used for representational space and the remainder for private accommodation.

The lease contract for this property was agreed and signed on 28 November 2001. The lease commenced on 17 July 2002, and will expire on 31 March 2017. The original lease contract contained an automatic upward rent structure, but that was discontinued in November 2009 following negotiation with the landlord. The last rent review was completed in September 2015. During the most recent negotiation, the core rent was reduced from JPY 5,670,000 to JPY 5,103,000 – a saving of JPY 567,000.

The current rent for the residency works out at €62 per sq. metre. The owner of the residence is now renting the same type of accommodation to new tenants at €79 per sq. metre. The rent paid by the Embassy is therefore significantly below the current market price.

My Department continues to review all options in relation to official accommodation in all countries where we have diplomatic representation so as to ensure value for money. Where possible, we also examine the scope for purchase with a view converting rental payments into a long term assets for Ireland.