Written answers
Tuesday, 11 October 2022
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Election Monitoring Missions
Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
345. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade that date on which an invitation was received from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe to nominate Irish election observers for the Bulgarian parliamentary election scheduled to be held in October 2022; the reason that no Irish election observers were nominated for this mission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49721/22]
Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
The Department of Foreign Affairs administers and maintains a roster of suitably skilled volunteers, who are available to participate in international election observation missions organised by the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
In August 2022, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) issued a call for nominations for its election observation mission to the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Bulgaria, which were held on 2 October. The Department takes decisions on nominations to election observation missions on a case-by-case basis, in the context of the situation of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It was decided not to nominate observers for this mission.
Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
346. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the names of each person nominated to take part in Ireland’s international election observation programme since the start of 2019; the cost of each mission involved broken down by airfares, expenses, grants and insurance; if these observers were appointed or reappointed to the Irish election observation roster; if so, the date that they were originally appointed; if he will detail the budget for the programme in 2022 and 2023; the amount of the budget for 2022 that has been spent to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49722/22]
Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
The Department of Foreign Affairs administers an Election Observation Roster as part of Ireland’s commitment to supporting democratisation, human rights and the rule of law. The Roster facilitates the participation of suitably skilled and vetted volunteers who are available to participate at short notice in Election Observation Missions under the aegis of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union.
Ireland's current International Election Observation Roster has 196 active members. It was established in January 2019 and is due to expire in December 2023. To date, €38,348 of the annual 2022 budget for the Roster, of €180,000, has been spent. The budget for 2023 will be allocated before the end of 2022 as part of the overall budgetary allocation process.
Details of the costs of each mission, including airfares, expenses and insurance are regularly published on the election observation section of the Irish Aid website at www.irishaid.ie/get-involved/election-observation/. In keeping with the Department’s obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which include conducting a balancing exercise between the rights and freedoms of the data subjects involved and the public interest, the information on the website does not specify the names of roster members deployed on each mission.
No comments