asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the names of the persons who have been appointed to the Embassies in Tokyo and Luxembourg.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Embassy Appointments.
3.
The names of the diplomatic officers who have been appointed to the Embassies in Tokyo and Luxembourg are as follows:
Tokyo: Ambassador: Mr. C.P. Fogarty; First Secretary: This post is at present vacant. Third Secretary: Mr. R. Ryan. In addition there are six locally recruited staff employed at the Embassy.
Luxembourg: Ambassador: Mr. V. Iremonger; Third Secretary: This post is at present vacant. Two clerical assistants from the home civil service are also employed.
Is it intended to fill the Secretary's post?
Yes, I hope to be able to fill it over the coming months. Because of our current presidency of the European Community we have had to deploy staff on a temporary basis and quite a number of our missions abroad are understaffed for that reason at this time. That position will be mitigated, although not perhaps completely remedied, at the end of the present session.
Is the Minister experiencing difficulty in recruiting suitable staff for his Department?
This year I think we have had more successful applications than ever before and have actually received into the Department more staff than ever before, but of course our needs are greater than ever before.
That is because of unemployment generally.
I think there may be other reasons.