Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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172. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number and percentage of staff based at the Irish Embassy in Tokyo who are fluent in speaking and writing in Japanese. [38659/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Developing and maintaining foreign language skills in our Embassies is important in building key relationships and enabling officers to integrate more deeply.

A wide range of skills are required to carry out the functions of an Embassy and, to that end, the staffing profile of our Embassies include both posted staff and locally-hired staff.

A total of 21 staff are currently employed by Ireland’s Embassy to Japan.

15 members of the staff (71%) at the Embassy are fluent in Japanese and all posted staff members have undertaken Japanese language training.