Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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138. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of employees currently in his Department; the number of staff per year each year since 2015, by grade, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58493/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The number of civil servants employed by my department in the years 2015-2025 is provided in tabular form below.

Each figure provided is as of 31 December in the year in question, with the exception of 2025 in respect of which the staff numbers provided are as of 30 September 2025.

The number of civil servants currently employed by the Department includes staff serving in temporary roles to prepare for Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the European Council as our preparations for Ireland’s Presidency intensify across both policy and operational strands of planning.

In addition to civil servants, my department also employs staff across our diplomatic missions abroad that are recruited locally. These employees are subject to local labour law and their salaries are set on a mission by mission basis based on their job description and on the prevailing conditions for salaries in each location. The number of locally recruited staff as of 30 September 2025 was 962.