IN WHAT may be a sign of things to come for Ireland’s diplomats, applicants for the position of Irish Ambassador to Slovakia have been informed that the post-holder will no longer be provided with a formal residence, domestic staff, or car and driver.
An internal memo circulated to first secretaries at the Department of Foreign Affairs last Wednesday called for expressions of interest for the Bratislava post which will become vacant early in the new year.
The memo, which has been seen by The Irish Times, also advises that pending the outcome of the Government’s comprehensive spending review, there is no guarantee as to whether, or at what grade, the post will be filled. “It should be noted that the post-holder will no longer be provided with a formal residence, domestic staff, nor a car or driver once existing contractual commitments are phased out,” it states. The memo notes that it is intended that the Embassy in Bratislava should become a one-diplomat mission in due course.
The size and spread of Ireland’s diplomatic network is again coming under the spotlight in the run-up to the publication of the Government’s comprehensive spending review ahead of December’s budget.
It is understood discussions related to the comprehensive spending review have included the possible closure of some diplomatic missions. A number, including the mission in Dili, the capital of Timor Leste, are considered vulnerable.
In July 2009, the McCarthy report on public expenditure recommended that the State’s network of embassies and consulates be reduced from 76 missions to 55.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has resisted efforts to shut missions, with officials arguing that to do so would amount to a “false economy” given the role Irish diplomats can play in the country’s recovery. Of Ireland’s 76 diplomatic outposts, 58 are embassies, seven multilateral missions [those attached to the UN for example] and 11 consulates and other offices.
The department describes its network as a “modest global presence” compared to states that Ireland would rank itself with. These include Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – all have a diplomatic network that comprises more than 100 missions.
The scale of Ireland’s diplomatic footprint is more akin to that of Slovakia or Cyprus.
In addition to their country of primary accreditation, many Irish ambassadors are also accredited to additional countries on a non-resident basis. For example, Ireland’s Ambassador in Egypt is also accredited to Jordan, Sudan, Syria and Lebanon.
In its submission to the Croke Park agreement review process earlier this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs pointed out that it had achieved annual savings of more than €3.5 million through measures that included slashing overall employee numbers, negotiating rent cuts for embassies, retaining embassy vehicles for longer, and streamlining personnel.
The department succeeded in obtaining rent reductions for several diplomatic missions for 2012.
These include Athens, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Capetown, Brussels, Bucharest, Riga and Nicosia. The total savings amount to some €600,000 a year.