asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the qualification required to act as (a) Irish Consul and (b) Irish Consul-General, abroad; if he will undertake a review of all such appointed persons to ensure that those holding such appointments have the maximum knowledge of modern Ireland and are geared to the greatest possible degree towards promoting Ireland, its needs and to representing its citizens abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteann—Questions. Oral Answers. - Qualification for Posts Abroad.
2.
I understand that the Deputy is referring to the position regarding honorary consuls as opposed to the career civil servants who staff our Irish consulates abroad. The functions of honorary consuls are to provide basic consular services in return for a nominal honorarium and a proportion of any consular fees they may collect. They are themselves expected to bear the costs of providing staff time and premises. The officers in question are not carrer civil servants and they have no diplomatic role. The consular functions of such officers relate mainly to providing consular documents or certificates, accepting applications for Irish visas, helping or advising Irish citizens in emergencies, providing certain passport services, and similar matters.
When candidates for the post of honorary consul are being considered special attention is paid to the person's overall suitability, the closeness of their links with Ireland, their standing in the community, the extent of their knowledge of local conditions and connections, and whether they have suitable accommodation from which to operate as honorary consul.
On appointment an honorary consul is sent a full set of instructions on the provision of consular services to Irish citizens together with general requisites of their offices. They are provided with information material on Ireland and receive on a regular basis the publications of my Department. They are briefed by my Department on their visits to Ireland.
Finally, I would stress that honorary consuls can, and do, provide routine up-to-date information material on Irish conditions and many can also provide useful contact points for those interested in business dealings with Ireland. However such appointments are made primarily with a view to providing consular services on an honorary basis for our citizens abroad. I am satisfied that the primary aim of the system is achieved.
Can I ask the Minister if he is happy with the situation which allows a great variance in the performance of Irish consuls and consul-generals abroad? Many of them would not even be able to pronounce the name of this House. Will he agree that people meeting these consuls abroad look on them as representatives of the Government and State of Ireland? Will he ensure that they have at least a minimum knowledge of modern day Ireland so that we do not have the sort of embarrassing situation which Members of this House witnessed where a consul told a member of a foreign Parliament that women were still being arrested daily for bringing in contraceptives at Kings Bridge?
I would imagine, given the fact that these are honorary consuls, some of them have been in that position for a great number of years. They vary in nationality and in background. They are appointed to very many countries all over the world and in some cases there are a number of those people in the one country. There is bound to be a variation of performance in those circumstances. It might be a little bit of an exaggeration, and I am sure Deputy Mitchell will agree, to say that many of them could not pronounce the name of this House. I do not know which honorary consul is the subject of the anecdote which he has just related. If he gives me that information I will look into it. There might have been a change in that location recently but I am not sure whom he is referring to. In a system like this where people are not paid, they are there because they are of Irish ancestry, and many of them were born in Ireland — I know of one case where a man is married to an Irish woman — there is bound to be variation in the level of commitment to the job and the ability of people to absorb material which is sent to them about Ireland. There is bound to be variation in the enthusiasm and energy with which they pursue their role as honorary consuls. The ideal situation would be that we would have career civil servants in every country in the world but we must cut the cloth to suit the measure. We just cannot afford that.
I can assure the Minister that there is at least one Irish consul who cannot pronounce the name of this House. Many people who hold the office of Irish consul and Irish consul-general certainly operate at a high level and are very competent and very able. Will the Minister take steps to ensure that all those holding the office know the minimum about modern day Ireland. If they have been out of the country for a long time steps should be taken to update their knowledge and to brief them on what is happening in the Ireland of the twentieth century.
As I said in my reply, all the publications of my Department are sent to the honorary consuls abroad. If they visit this country they are brought into the Department and given a thorough briefing on modern day Ireland. I am always glad to get comments from those who come into contact with honorary consuls, whether they are criticisms or praise. In the case of criticisms we could do something about it to see what is the point of conflict and in the case of praise it would be useful to pass it on to the honorary consuls themselves.
There are a number who could be praised also.