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Election Monitoring Missions

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 November 2013

Thursday, 14 November 2013

Questions (35)

Finian McGrath

Question:

35. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 65 of 18 June 2013, if he will clarify when and the reason the selection interviews were abandoned and replaced by a paper based selection process; if he will detail the fees and expenses paid to each of the assessors; if he will clarify the date the final review appeal process was established and the reason for establishing it; if all unsuccessful candidates were notified of their option to avail of the appeal option; if not, if he will direct that they now be informed; the number of appeals received and if any of the appeals were upheld in favour of the appealing candidates; if the Ombudsman has been in contact with his Department in respect of any unsuccessful candidate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48721/13]

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Written answers

International election monitoring missions play an important role in the promotion of democracy and human rights. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade maintains and administers a roster of observers for such missions. The aim is to ensure that, when requested, Ireland is represented at an appropriate level in international observation missions for both elections and constitutional referendums. My Department carried out a comprehensive review of the election observation roster earlier this year. The Information Note for Applicants, which was posted on the Department’s websites, stated that interviews would be held in the event that a large number of applicants met the minimum eligibility requirements. In the event, only 263 eligible applications were received for a roster to comprise of 200 individuals and 10 reserve panellists. Given that this number was not significantly higher than the number of places available on the roster, the selection process was confined to an assessment of the written applications only and an interview stage was not included.

All eligible applications were scored independently by two assessors external to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade against the four criteria published in the Information Note for Applicants. The assessors were paid fees of €200 per day in accordance with the fees payable for service on interview boards as set out in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular E12/1/70. Assessors were also paid travel expenses, amounting to a total of less than €50, for travel to and from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

All unsuccessful applicants to the roster were invited to request feedback on their applications and feedback has been provided on this basis to 18 individuals. In addition, in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 67 of 29 May 2013, I outlined the offer of a review process. This was to be conducted by a senior official who had not been involved in the roster review. On foot of feedback received, two unsuccessful applicants requested a final review of their applications. In both cases, the reviewer was of the view that the scoring of the applications was fair and impartial overall. In one case, it was recommended that the applicant’s score be adjusted marginally upwards. This adjustment did not affect the final outcome in relation to placement on the roster.

The Department has been in ongoing contact with one of the applicant’s who sought a review. This applicant has made information requests under the Freedom of Information Acts, which have been acted on by the Department in compliance with the relevant legislation. Specifically, the Office of the Information Commissioner has been in contact with the Department regarding an application for review lodged by the applicant to that Office. The Department is fully engaging in this review process.

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