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Tuesday, 19 Oct 2021

Written Answers Nos. 504-523

Foreign Policy

Questions (504)

Seán Haughey

Question:

504. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland plans to recognise the Myanmar National Unity Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50730/21]

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Written answers

Ireland has repeatedly condemned the coup carried out by the Myanmar military and the attempts by the military to consolidate or legitimise its regime. We continue to call for a cessation of violence, the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained, including the President and State Counsellor, and the restoration of legitimate, civilian government.

Ireland’s practice is to recognise states and not governments. We do not therefore recognise specific governments in Myanmar or elsewhere.

As I have the outlined in my previous statements on this matter, the election results of November 2020 and the sustained, large-scale popular opposition to the coup since 1 February, demonstrate that the Tatmadaw (military) have no mandate to govern Myanmar. General Min Aung Hlaing’s self-appointment as Prime Minister is a clear attempt to normalise his position and does not reflect the democratic will of the people of Myanmar.

Reflecting our core values, Ireland is committed to promoting a fair, just and more secure world. In contexts of conflict, we underline the importance of inclusion and engagement of key stakeholders in negotiating acceptable and sustainable solutions. Ireland acknowledges the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and the National Unity Government (NUG) as important stakeholders in Myanmar’s future, and encourages their involvement in discussions and negotiations to resolve the current crisis.

We also commend the NUG for facilitating greater representation from women, youth and ethnic-minority groups. Ireland recognises the critical contribution of women and youth to conflict prevention and resolution, as well as peacebuilding, in Myanmar.

Ireland is concerned by the announcement of proposed new elections by the Myanmar military and efforts to disband the National League for Democracy (NLD). Any election that excludes major political parties from participation cannot be either free or fair and will not deliver sustainable peace in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar have consistently endorsed the democratic path and overwhelmingly reject the military coup.

We reiterate that the democratic will of the people of Myanmar must be respected for there to be lasting peace and stability in Myanmar.

Question No. 505 answered with Question No. 501.
Question No. 506 answered with Question No. 501.
Question No. 507 answered with Question No. 491.

Passport Services

Questions (508)

Emer Higgins

Question:

508. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if consideration will be given to renaming passport express to reflect the fact that is the only postal method of passport application and as such is much slower than online applications and renewal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50976/21]

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Written answers

My Department fully recognises that Passport Express, and Northern Ireland Passport Express, continue to be a vitally important channel for applicants who do not wish to use the online system or who have limited digital skills.

The current turnaround times for Passport Online is 10 working days for Simple Adult renewals, 15 working days for Complex renewals and 40 working days for First Time Applications. The current turnaround time for Passport Express applications which have been completed correctly is 8 weeks.

The Passport Express channel was created in partnership with An Post’s Swiftpost option to provide customers with a passport application option through their local Post Office. As such, the Passport Service cannot change the name of this service.

Passport Online will continue to be the priority channel given the efficiencies that are in-built into the system for both the applicant and the Passport Service. The processing of an online application is consistently up to four times faster than the processing time of a paper application. In addition, currently the use of Passport Online can facilitate social distancing, given that a renewal application for an adult does not require the signature of a witness.

Passport Online can be accessed by all first time applicants, irrespective of age  both children and adults, in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. All Irish citizens, including children, can use the online system to renew their passports from anywhere in the world.

Election Monitoring Missions

Questions (509)

Paul Murphy

Question:

509. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the OSCE international election observation mission to Uzbekistan is headed by an Irish citizen; if he or his officials have provided supports to this person concerning this mission; if so, the nature of the support; if a request for the deployment of Irish election observers has been made for this mission; the number of Irish election observers that he plans to deploy on this mission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50981/21]

View answer

Written answers

I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Questions No. 303, 304, 305, 310 and 311 of 26 May 2021, Parliamentary Question No. 777 of 24 March 2021 and Parliamentary Question No. 84 of 22 September 2021 on international election observation. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs facilitates an Election Observation Roster of suitably skilled and vetted volunteers who are available to participate at short notice in election observation missions, organised by the OSCE and EU. The current Roster of approximately 199 volunteers is in place since 1 January 2019.

Participation in election observation missions poses particular COVID-19 risks due to transit through international airport hubs, extensive in-country travel and interactions with observers from a significant number of other countries. This potentially exposes to Covid-19 not only election monitors, but also those with whom they interact with in the host country and when they return home.  As such, since March 2020, Ireland has not nominated election observers for EU or OSCE Election Observation Missions (EOMs).

The OSCE issued a call on 21 September for the nomination of Long Term and Short Term Observers for an EOM in Uzbekistan for upcoming elections scheduled to take place on 24 October. The deadline for nominations of election observers was 30 September. For the reasons outlined above, Ireland did not nominate LTOs or STOs for this EOM.

However, given the re-opening of non-essential international travel and the progress of Ireland’s vaccination programme, my officials have been working to clarify the safe conditions for volunteer election observers before, during and after their participation in Election Observation Missions.  This work is now complete and and it is my intention to nominate observers to missions on a case by case basis, subject to adjudication of duty of care.

As the Deputy will be aware, the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) manages its election observation mission through a core team of experts, which leads the monitoring and is directly recruited, which can be supplemented by long-term observers (LTOs) and short-term observers (STOs) nominated by OSCE Member States.

Applications to join the core team are managed directly by the OSCE-ODIHR through a recruitment procedure that is open to citizens of OSCE participating states, including Ireland. The Department of Foreign Affairs has no role in this process. Roles as head of electoral missions, or core team members for either the OSCE or the EU are thus entirely separate from the process of nomination by Member States for LTO or STO roles, including the volunteer election observation roster operated by this Department.

My officials have become aware through open OSCE channels that an Irish citizen, who is a member of ODIHR’s core team of experts, has been designated the head of an international election observation mission to Uzbekistan. As I have already indicated, such appointments are entirely at the discretion of the OSCE itself and are not a matter for Member States.

The individual in question did not request any briefing material or other supports in relation to the mission to Uzbekistan, and none were provided by my officials.

Question No. 510 answered with Question No. 490.
Question No. 511 answered with Question No. 501.
Question No. 512 answered with Question No. 501.
Question No. 513 answered with Question No. 490.

Departmental Offices

Questions (514)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

514. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the estimated amount spent by his Department on the procurement, purchase and rent of new office space; and the amount spent on the procurement, purchase and rent of office equipment in each of the past ten years and to date in 2021. [51104/21]

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Written answers

Global Ireland 2018-2025 is the Government’s strategy to double Ireland’s global footprint and influence. In delivering those goals, my Department has so far increased Ireland’s footprint internationally by opening thirteen new diplomatic missions in the following locations: Wellington, Bogotá, Amman, Monrovia, Santiago de Chile, Kiev, Rabat, Cardiff, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Manchester, Mumbai and Vancouver.  

As a result of this expansion Ireland now has a network of 95 offices internationally, of which twelve occupy premises that are State-owned and 83 that are leased.  Only one office space was purchased, for €3,683,421 in Washington in 2018.  Details of the rental costs of Irish diplomatic and consular office premises in the ten years 2011 to 2020 and in 2021 to date are set out in the following table.  

Plans are underway to open a further six new missions over the next two years in Manila, Toronto, Lyon, Miami, Dakar and Tehran.  

The Department's office accommodation in the State is provided by the Office of Public Works.

Year

Rental Expenditure on Official Offices

2011

11,092,522

2012

11,254,447

2013

10,364,957

2014

11,015,498

2015

11,373,460

2016

12,353,209

2017

12,466,186

2018

12,740,014

2019

14,302,593

2020

14,276,268

2021 to date

11,528,117

Total

132,767,271

A total of approximately €39.5m was expended by the Department on office and ICT equipment in the period January 2011 to September 2021, as set out in the following table. 

Year

Total

2011

€  2,660,267.45

2012

€  2,887,648.58

2013

€  4,226,526.47

2014

€  4,716,516.37

2015

€  3,424,276.39

2016

€  3,679,927.70

2017

€  3,269,818.51

2018

€  4,584,630.28

2019

€  5,155,699.98

2020

€  3,115,088.96

2021 (to Sept 30th)

€  1,713,931.35

Total:

€39,434,332.04

Departmental Offices

Questions (515)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

515. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of offices currently being rented or in ownership of his Department which are currently not in use by the Department. [51121/21]

View answer

Written answers

The twelve office premises in the State that are occupied by the Department of Foreign Affairs are provided by the Office of Public Works, which is responsible for payment of rent in relevant cases.  The Department also occupies 12 State-owned and 83 rented diplomatic and consular office premises overseas and in Northern Ireland.  All of the Department's office premises are occupied and in use. 

Question No. 516 answered with Question No. 501.
Question No. 517 answered with Question No. 495.
Question No. 518 answered with Question No. 491.
Question No. 519 answered with Question No. 491.

Overseas Development Aid

Questions (520, 521, 522)

Gary Gannon

Question:

520. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the increase to official development assistance announced in Budget 2022 in real terms; the percentage spend on same for 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51305/21]

View answer

Gary Gannon

Question:

521. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland’s commitment to reaching a spend of 0.7% of GNI on official development assistance by 2030 is still official policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51306/21]

View answer

Gary Gannon

Question:

522. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will now publish a roadmap to reaching 0.7% of GNI on official development assistance by 2030 in view of Budget 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51307/21]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 520, 521 and 522 together.

In Budget 2022, the Government allocated €1.044 billion. This is a 20% increase on the 2021 allocation, and the highest ever amount allocated to ODA by any Government. In the context of competing budgetary pressures, achieving this amount was an important statement by the Government of Ireland's solidarity with the developing world.

Given the strength of the economic recovery, this 20% increase in the overall cash allocation to ODA will, I anticipate, correspond to 0.32% of GNI for 2022.

While I am very proud that we have increased our ODA so considerably this year, I recognize the need to continue to strive for increases in GNI percentage terms. This must be balanced against the need to manage the large cash increases required. My Department is currently reviewing and building systems that will enable our development programme to grow further, including as a proportion of GNI, in a sustainable and responsible way. This includes working in coordination with the many other Government Departments and bodies spending Official Development Assistance, and with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, on how a growing ODA allocation can be managed most effectively across Departments. This work will inform whether it might be possible and appropriate to provide a roadmap to 0.7% for 2030.

Question No. 521 answered with Question No. 520.
Question No. 522 answered with Question No. 520.

Passport Services

Questions (523)

Gary Gannon

Question:

523. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will assist in securing passport renewals for persons (details supplied). [51308/21]

View answer

Written answers

With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputy has enquired, once all applications are fully complete, the Passport Service will endeavour to assist the applicants and their families. 

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