Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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114. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his Department or bodies under the aegis of his Department rent office space from a company (details supplied) or an Irish subsidiary; the number of employees who work out of such office space; the length of time they have been working from the offices; the cost to date of renting such offices; the tender process by which it was decided to make use of the services of the company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35714/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department currently rents office space in one location from the company in question. The premises operates as a temporary location for the Consulate General of Ireland in Frankfurt. Four staff members currently work out of this premises.

The Mission in Frankfurt was opened in 2019 as part of the Government's commitment outlined in the strategy Global Ireland 2025, a strategy which aims to expand and deepen Ireland's international presence and influence across a number of priority regions.

The current premises in Frankfurt was chosen as the best value location that met the needs of my Department for a temporary office space, while work on identifying a suitable permanent location for the Consulate General there is underway. The process to find a suitable location for a temporary office was undertaken based on advice from a local Real Estate Agent, appointed as part of a competitive procurement process in accordance with EU and Irish procurement rules.

My Department has leased this temporary space since July 2019. As of end October 2020, the cost of this lease has been €136,590. This consists of €65,795 in 2019 and €70,795 in 2020.