Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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112. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the election observation roster; if he plans to open it up for a public call for applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3542/17]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, 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 maintains and administers a roster of observers for such missions. The aim is to ensure that Ireland is 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 (OSCE).

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 applications. Following the independent appraisal and ranking of the 263 eligible applications, the 200 individuals who achieved the highest scores were selected to serve on the new roster and a reserve panel of the next 10 highest scoring individuals was also established, from which replacements would be drawn should any members leave the roster during the five year period.

In 2016, roster members observed 15 different elections under the auspices of the EU and OSCE.

I am confident that the current roster is well equipped to deal with the requirements of the EU and OSCE. It is envisaged that the current roster will operate until May 2018, but we are keeping it under review. Details regarding the next call for roster members will be published later this year on the Irish Aid website.