Conor Lally reports on the burgeoning cost of representing the State around the world, with Ireland's permanent representative mission to the EU in Brussels costing €12.5 million last year.
Irish embassy and consulate expenditure around the world reached almost €90 million in 2004, figures obtained by The Irish Times reveal.
Of the €89.1 million spent by 68 Irish missions almost €2.8 million went on travel, while €2.4 million went on entertainment.
The missions in Brussels proved most costly during last year with combined expenditure at the State's three missions in the city reaching almost €14.3 million.
Ireland's permanent representative mission to the EU in Brussels cost €12.5 million last year, by far the highest annual sum of any single mission around the world.
The Irish Embassy in Belgium, also in Brussels, spent just over €1 million, while our Partnership for Peace office in the city, Ireland's mission to Nato, cost €700,000.
Of the total spend in Brussels, €450,000 went on staff travel and €260,000 on entertainment.
The next most expensive office after the EU mission in Brussels was London, where €7.5 million was spent in the year under review. This was followed by our permanent mission to the UN in New York, which cost just over €3 million last year. The exceptionally high figure of €2.24 million for Lisbon is accounted for by the purchase of a new embassy building for €1.6 million.
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 of Foreign Affairs uses the secondary accreditation system as a cost-effective way to promote Ireland in countries where we do not have a resident embassy.
The figures for entertainment include expenditure on representational work, or entertainment for the specific purpose of building relations with countries and promoting Ireland through these relationships.
The annual expenditure figures for most Irish missions in Africa last year included the management, implementation and monitoring of Ireland's programme of development co-operation in the countries concerned.
In addition, the figures for Tanzania and Uganda include the travel costs for regional support units.
These units comprise technical experts whose role it is to provide advice and support to all programme countries.
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 to the department.
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 visa offices.
Ireland has 68 resident missions around the world: 45 embassies, five multilateral missions and 13 consulates-general and other offices. Staff working at the offices maintain diplomatic relations with about 150 foreign governments.
EU presidency offices were opened in Sofia and Bucharest during 2003 and subsequently closed last year. Total expenditure on these offices reached almost €440,000 last year.