Embassies spent €95m in 2002

Irish embassy and consulate expenditure reached almost €95 million in 2002, new figures obtained by The Irish Times reveal.

Irish embassies and consulate offices around the world spent almost €3 million on travel during the period, while almost €2.4 million was spent on entertainment and "representational" duties.

Representational expenditure arises as a result of representational work carried out by Irish diplomats serving abroad. This includes the cost of receptions, dinners, lunches and buffets hosted by staff. Ireland has 66 resident missions around the world: 49 embassies, five multilateral missions and 12 consulates-general and other offices. Staff working at the offices maintain diplomatic relations with 151 foreign governments.

The diplomatic representatives in Brussels proved most costly in 2002, running up expenditure of €10.9 million at the State's three missions in the city. Of that sum, €376,000 was spent on travel, while €115,642 went on entertainment and representational costs.

The embassy in New York and Ireland's permanent UN mission in the city were the next most expensive, incurring combined expenditure of €8.6 million. Entertainment and representation spending accounted for €321,824 of that sum, while the New York-based diplomats spent €297,767 on travel.

Third most expensive was the the Irish embassy in London, where total expenditure reached almost €8.4 million. Some €246,685 was spent on entertainment and representation, while travel accounted for just €135,272 of the overall sum.

Staff at the Irish Aid Office in East Timor spent the least of all of Ireland's offices and embassies overseas. Total expenditure came to €228,546 during 2002. Some €15,157 of that was spent on travel, while just €948 went on entertainment and representation.

The total expenditure figures include salaries and allowances for both Irish staff and locally recruited staff. The majority of embassies and consulates have two or three Irish staff and a similar number of locally recruited staff, according the the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Some Irish embassies, including those in Washington, Paris, Beijing and Berlin, have up to 11 Irish staff each.

The permanent mission in Brussels has upwards of 50 staff. The embassy in London has a separate passport and visa office while Beijing and Moscow have separate visa offices.

In the period under review new embassies were opened, or were in the process of opening, in a number of countries, including Norway, Slovakia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Brazil and Estonia. The start-up costs for these are included in the figures provided by the Department.

In the case of Oslo, where total expenditure reached almost €4.3 million, a new premises was purchased which will now house the embassy in Norway.

Travel expenditure does not only cover trips between Ireland and countries where staff are based. It includes all forms of travel on business within the country of accreditation as well as travel to countries of secondary accreditation.

The Department said the secondary accreditation system is an "important and cost effective way of promoting Ireland in countries where we do not have a resident embassy".

On representational work, it said: "\ is an essential element of the work of the Department and a key element of the Department's strategy in the promotion of Ireland's political, economic and cultural interests in the European Union and in the wider world."