Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 27 Jun 1979

Vol. 315 No. 8

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Embassies.

15.

Mr. O'Keeffe

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) the number of embassies maintained by the Irish Government; (b) the location of same; and (c) the number (i) owned and (ii) rented.

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Mr. D. Andrews)

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate a tabular statement setting out the information requested.

Location	Embassy Chancery	Embassy Residence
Owned	Rented	Owned	Rented
1. Athens		X	X
2. Beirut		X		X
3. Bonn		X		X
4. Brussels to (Belgium)		X		X
5. Brussels (Permanent Representation to the European Communities)		X		X
6. Buenos Aires		X		X
7. Cairo		X		X
8. Canberra		X	X
9. Copenhagen		X	X
10. Geneva (Permanent Mission to the European Office of the United Nations)		X		X
11. The Hague	X		X
12. Holy See	*X
13. Jeddah		X		X
14. Lagos		X	X
15. Lisbon		X		X
16. London	*X
17. Luxembourg		X		X
18. Madrid		X	X
19. Moscow		*X
20. Nairobi (Recent accreditation. Premises being sought).
21. New Delhi		X		X
22. New York (Permanent Mission to the United Nations)		X	X
23. Ottawa		X	X
24. Paris	*X
25. Rome		X		X
26. Stockholm		X		X
27. Tehran		*X
28. Tokyo		X		X
29. Vienna		X		X
30. Washington	X		X
31. Berne		X	X

* Chancery and residence combined.

Mr. O'Keeffe

Is it the policy of the Government to own these premises or to rent them?

Mr. D. Andrews

It is the intention of the Government to own the premises. We have quite a number of valuable premises, not least the premises in Paris which was under a cloud of controversy some years ago. It is now priceless, being in the heart of that beautiful city. It is a matter of economics. Some economists say it is better to lease premises and to use for other purposes the capital that would have been used in buying the premises. Other economists suggest purchase and that inflation would take care of it in time.

Mr. O'Keeffe

Was there a purchase in Moscow?

Mr. D. Andrews

We have done our best to buy wherever possible.