A core objective of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the provision of high-quality consular assistance to Irish citizens who find themselves in difficulty while travelling abroad. This assistance is delivered through the Department’s network of diplomatic missions abroad and through the Department’s Consular Division based in Dublin.
The Department’s website also has detailed country-specific travel advice to assist citizens in planning their travel and acquainting them with particular issues they should bear in mind when travelling to particular places.
The Consular Assistance provided by the Department includes providing emergency and other official documents to citizens, and liaising with local authorities on behalf of a citizen or their family, especially in cases where there may be language barriers. Depending on the circumstances of the difficulty encountered by the citizen, we can also provide information on legal experts, medical facilities and other such locally based services that may be required.
In 2014, the Department provided assistance in 221 cases involving a death abroad. In cases where the Department is notified of the death of an Irish national abroad, the Department will offer the deceased’s next-of-kin assistance in liaising with relevant local authorities and organisations as they seek to repatriate their loved one’s remains to Ireland.
Whilst the Department provides a highly accessible consular service, given the number of people travelling abroad it is not possible for budgetary reasons for the Department to fund repatriations in the case of death abroad. The Department strongly recommends to citizens that they purchase suitable travel insurance prior to undertaking their travels, so that they can pay for medical bills and other additional costs as may be required, up to and including the repatriation of remains.
