Vol. 535 No. 5
132 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the top ten most important countries worldwide to which the Government has not yet appointed an ambassador; his plans to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13313/01]
It would be invidious for me to attempt to rate countries in the manner requested by the Deputy. I am keeping the need for establishing further Irish embassies abroad under continuous review. I am in favour of a targeted and incremental increase in the number of our diplomatic missions as resources permit and in this context my priorities include the EU applicants and Latin America.
Over the next few years I hope, with Government agreement, to open missions in the EU applicant countries and in Latin America on a phased basis.
