David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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785. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total Covid-19-related spend in 2020 by his Department, agency and budget line item; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16277/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In 2020, the total Covid-19-related spend by the Department of Foreign Affairs was €2,556,158.

The largest element of that spend was on the repatriation of Irish citizens and residents abroad. With unprecedented numbers of people stranded across the world in 2020 as a result of Covid-19, the Department developed a comprehensive approach to repatriation of citizens who wished to return home. Priority was given to helping citizens who were normally resident in Ireland to return home safely on commercial flights wherever possible and, where not possible, on flights chartered by EU and other partners.  In exceptional cases, where these options were not available, the Department chartered flights directly to bring citizens home, notably from Peru, India and Nigeria. These flights were arranged in close cooperation with EU partners and were supported through the EU “Union Civil Protection Mechanism” which allows for partial co-financing of flights. In addition, all citizens who received an emergency repatriation and/or assistance loan, including those who travelled on the charter flights, signed an agreement to repay that loan within six months.

Under this comprehensive approach, the Department spent €1.54m on repatriations in 2020. The EU refund process and the Department’s billing process is still ongoing.

Other Covid-19-related spend includes costs relating to the running of the Covid Crisis Centre, the purchase and delivery of PPE to our HQ offices and our Missions abroad, the provision of home and remote working supports to staff, additional cleaning costs and health services costs including Covid tests for staff going to or coming from their overseas posting or other essential travel. Details are provided in the following table: