asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, having regard to the existence of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), he will recognise the present system of Ireland's diplomatic representation and accretion with the six member States of ASEAN with a view to giving one Ambassador overall responsibility for dealings with ASEAN group, having regard to their increasing economic importance in terms of trade with the rest of the world and Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Diplomatic Representation.
12.
The following states are members of the Association of South East Asian Nations: Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Ireland maintains diplomatic relations with each of these states. Our Ambassador to India is concurrently accredited to Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Our Ambassador to Australia is concurrently accredited to Indonesia. Our Ambassador to China is likewise accredited to the Philippines.
For practical reasons it would not be feasible at the present time to concurrently accredit one ambassador to all six ASEAN member states. Having regard to the resources available to us, the existing arrangements are satisfactory and there are no proposals to change them.
I appreciate the constraints that are on the Minister for Foreign Affairs' budget and his staff allocation but I think he would agree that it is necessary for this country to have a co-ordinated approach and for the diplomatic representation to be au fait with all of the ASEAN countries. Can I ask the Minister to reconsider the statement he has made with a view to accrediting one ambassador to the six ASEAN countries and to perhaps reassigning some second level staff to that embassy to take on the necessary workload? The economic implications for this country are enormous and both the IDA and CTT have identified that. I leave it to the Minister to decide how best it could be done but I ask him to reconsider the response he has given to the House.
I will certainly reconsider this matter. I am already having it examined with a view to rationalising our representations in that area in accordance with our trade and investment interests in particular. The only caveat I would enter in the matter is that there are enormous distances involved and that was the ad hoc basis on which the division was taken up to now. It is probably the area of most growth in the world at present in so far as economic development is concerned and the fastest growing economic group of countries in the world.
That is my point and there should be one person co-ordinating it.
Taking all that into consideration, I will have the Deputy's suggestion fully examined and I will be in touch with him. I go along with him to a fair extent.