ANALYSIS:Long before last week's McCarthy report suggested cutting the number of embassies, there were plans to reorganise the State's diplomatic network
SINCE HIS appointment in May last year, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has undertaken a review of Ireland’s diplomatic missions to see where personnel and resources could be better deployed, particularly in relation to emerging markets in regions such as Asia and the Middle East.
On an official visit to the United Arab Emirates in February, Mr Martin announced that Ireland would soon open an embassy in its capital, Abu Dhabi. A new consulate in Atlanta, Georgia, is also in the pipeline.
But Iveagh House officials acknowledged that along with expansion in certain regions came the possibility of closures in others, particularly as the State’s economic circumstances tightened. In May it was announced that the Irish consulate in Cardiff, opened in the wake of the Belfast Agreement, would become the first casualty of cost-cutting measures at the department.
The Irish Embassy in Malta was also considered vulnerable, and there was talk of a possible amalgamation of the three embassies in the Baltics – Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius – into one. The closure of embassies in EU member states was considered a sensitive issue, given the mood in Europe following Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. The view was that it would be better to wait until after a second referendum on Lisbon before making any decision on possible embassy closures within the EU.
The report of the expenditure review group chaired by economist Colm McCarthy last week maintained that annual savings of almost €42 million could be made in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Of this, the report said €15 million could be saved by pruning the number of diplomatic missions and switching the majority of ambassador posts to a lower pay grade.
The group recommended that, given the potential for “synergies” between the department and agencies such as Enterprise Ireland, Tourism Ireland and An Bord Bia, as well as the potential establishment of a European external action service if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified, the number of embassies and consulates should be reduced from 76 to 55.
The report noted that Ireland has 300 officials in total working across its 76 missions, 46 officials assigned from other Government departments and 300 locally recruited personnel, such as drivers, domestic staff and porters. “This totals 646 and contrasts with the situation in 1989 when there were 40 missions abroad, employing some 200 Irish staff and some 200 locally recruited staff,” it said.
It is not the first time the State’s diplomatic network has come under scrutiny. In 1987, the original Bord Snip recommended that 15 missions close as part of a belt-tightening drive. In the end, only one embassy – in Nairobi – was shut.
Iveagh House sources maintain that the monies could be saved elsewhere within the department.
They point out that Ireland has one of the smallest diplomatic services in the EU, in per capita terms. Of Ireland’s 76 diplomatic missions, seven are consulates. Four are in the US – New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco – with the remaining three in Sydney, Edinburgh and Shanghai.
Some diplomats say that while closing an embassy may be seen as relatively straightforward, the snub it represents to the host country means the issue of re-establishing a mission in the future is more problematic. Others worry that shutting 21 of the State’s diplomatic missions would send an unfortunate signal to the rest of the world – one that may well be regretted when Ireland gets back on its feet again.