Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs maintains and administers a voluntary roster of suitably skilled and vetted individuals who are available to participate at short notice in election observation missions (EOM’s) organised by the European Union (EU) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Short term observers generally spend up to eight days in the country where the election is being held. Long term observers can spend up to eight weeks. The number of deployments fluctuates annually, depending on the number of applications received and the selection decisions of the EU and OSCE.

Ireland's current five-year international Election Observation Roster was established on 1 January 2024 and has 173 members. To date, ten members of this Roster have been selected to participate in election observation missions. Of these, six participated in an OSCE mission to observe the Presidential Election in Azerbaijan. Four were selected to participate in an EU mission to observe the General Elections in Senegal, which have now been postponed.