Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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45.To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the civil service grades each Irish Ambassador and each consul general is at, in tabular form. [24871/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in tabular form below as at 31 May 2024:

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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46.To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the Irish Ambassador or deputy Ambassador or equivalent based at the Irish Embassy in Rome have visited the city of Naples, Italy to date in 2024; and if so, the purpose of each visit, in tabular form. [24872/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Ambassador to Italy, Deputy Head of Mission or other diplomatic staff employed in the Irish Embassy in Rome have not visited Naples to date in 2024.

The work of our Embassy in Rome does have an important regional dimension, across the range of Ireland’s economic, cultural, political and institutional links with Italy. This will be further bolstered by the planned opening of a new Consulate General in Milan later this year.

To date in 2024, our Ambassador to Italy has visited the cities of Milan, Genoa, Venice, Bologna and Florence. In Milan, the Ambassador regularly engages with Ireland’s State Agencies: Enterprise Ireland; Tourism Ireland; and Bord Bia, whose Italian offices are headquartered in Milan. In March 2024, the Ambassador launched the Irish Business Network, which aims to facilitate and encourage new business opportunities between Ireland and Italy.

The visits undertaken throughout Italy typically include key economic, educational and cultural engagements as well as supporting official visits from Ireland, such as a recent technical visit by senior officials of the Office of Public Works to study flood defence systems in Venice.

Each visit would also include engagements with key regional and municipal authorities, such as the Mayor of Genoa and the Vice President of the Veneto Region.