Diplomatic Representation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2021

Thursday, 16 December 2021

Questions (351, 352, 353, 354)

Alan Dillon

Question:

351. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the selection process to nominate an Irish ambassador to Ireland’s diplomatic missions abroad; the oversight proposals that exist on such appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62491/21]

Alan Dillon

Question:

352. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if consideration is being given to using the Public Appointments Service to source candidates for senior roles in Ireland’s diplomatic missions abroad; the efforts being considered to increase transparency on assigning senior postings abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62492/21]

Alan Dillon

Question:

353. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the grade and associated pay scales for diplomatic ambassadors posted overseas; if this pay scale varies amongst Ireland’s embassies abroad; if so, the variations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62493/21]

Alan Dillon

Question:

354. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the current or former Departmental secretary generals, assistant secretary generals or civil servants that have or will undertake diplomatic missions abroad in tabular form; if he will list the name, location of diplomatic mission and previous public sector employment roles in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62494/21]

Written answers

Minister for Foreign Affairs

I propose to take Questions Nos. 351 to 354, inclusive, together.

I propose to group the Deputy’s four questions together for answer. The Government, on foot of proposals made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, nominates officers for Ambassadorial posts. The nominated Ambassadors are subsequently appointed by the President and take up duty abroad following the receipt of agrément from the receiving state. Only serving civil servants are considered for ambassadorial assignments.

All currently serving Ambassadors are established career civil servants employed by my Department. All civil service grades are recruited through the Public Appointments Service or external competitions administered by my Department in accordance with the Code of Practice as set out by the Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA). In considering the nomination of Ambassadors, a range of factors is taken into account including political, economic and trade priorities. In addition the management experience, regional knowledge, country knowledge, relevant language skills, policy experience, consular experience, and other factors of the officers are taken into account as part of the assignment process. Officers submit a list of preferences for an overseas posting. Ambassadors are paid on the same pay scales for all Civil Service employees for that grade. These pay scales are available on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform website. Additional allowances and costs (e.g. healthcare, school fees, transportation of goods) are paid by the Department depending on the conditions in the local county, based on Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sanction.

As requested, I have included the list of Irish Ambassadors broken down by location and grade.

Mission	Surname	First Name	Grade
Abu Dhabi	Cronin	Aidan	Counsellor
Abuja	Maguire	Sile	Assistant Secretary
Addis Ababa	Brennan	Nicola	Principal Development Specialist
Amman	O'Neill	Vincent	Principal Development Specialist
Ankara	McGuinness	Sonya	Counsellor
Athens	Fitzgerald	Iseult	Counsellor
Bangkok	Cotter	Tony	Counsellor
Beijing	Derwin	Ann	Assistant Secretary
Berlin	O'Brien	Nicholas	Assistant Secretary
Berne	Hickey	Eamonn	Counsellor
Bogota	Nic Dhonnacha	Fiona	Counsellor
Brasilia	Hoy	Sean	Counsellor
Bratislava	McGauran	Dermot	First Secretary
Brussels Perm Rep.	Hanney	Tom	Assistant Secretary
Bucharest	McGarry	Paul	Counsellor
Budapest	Gargan	Ronan	Counsellor
Buenos Aires	O'Halloran	Jackie	Counsellor
Cairo	O'Regan	Sean	Counsellor
Canberra	Mawe	Tim	Counsellor
Copenhagen	McDaid	Adrian	Counsellor
Dar-es-Salaam	O'Neill	Mary	Development Counsellor
Freetown	Buckley	Claire	Counsellor
Geneva	Gaffey	Michael	Assistant Secretary
Hanoi	McCullagh	John	Counsellor
Helsinki	Parkin	Ruth	Counsellor
Holy See	Hannon	Derek	First Secretary
Jakarta	Francis	Padraig	Counsellor
Kampala	Colgan	Kevin	Counsellor
Kuala Lumpur	Reilly	Hilary	Counsellor
Kyiv	Healy	Therese	Counsellor
Lilongwe	O'Grady	Seamus	Senior Development Specialist
Lisbon	Victory	Ralph	Counsellor
Ljubljana	Geiran	Myles	First Secretary
London	O'Neill	Adrian	Second Secretary General
Lusaka	Carr	Bronagh	Senior Development Specialist
Luxembourg	Dawson	Stephen	First Secretary
Madrid	Smyth	Frank	Counsellor
Manila	Carlos	William	Principal Development Specialist
Maputo	O'Brien	Nuala	Counsellor
Mexico	Von Heynitz	Maeve	Assistant Secretary
Moscow	McElduff	Brian	Counsellor
Nairobi	Quinlan	Fionnuala	Counsellor
New Delhi	Ward	Brendan	Counsellor
New York PMUN	Byrne-Nason	Geraldine	Second Secretary General
Nicosia	Long	Conor	First Secretary
Oslo	McBean	Keith	Counsellor
Ottawa	McKee	Eamonn	Counsellor
Paris Emb	Burgess	Niall	Former Secretary General
Paris OECD	Keown	Gerard	Assistant Secretary
Prague	Manahan	Cliona	Counsellor
Pretoria	Gilsenan	Fionnuala	Principal Development Specialist
Rabat	McIntyre	James	Counsellor
Riga	Friel	Eimear	First Secretary
Riyadh	McCoy	Gerard	Counsellor
Rome	O'Brien	Patricia	Assistant Secretary
Santiago	Gleeson	Paul	Counsellor
Seoul	Clare	Julian	Counsellor
Singapore	Bourne	Pat	Counsellor
Sofia	Feeney	Martina	Counsellor
Stockholm	Gormley	Austin	Assistant Secretary
Strasbourg	O'Reilly	Breifne	Counsellor
Tallinn	Kiernan	Frances	First Secretary
Tel Aviv	O'Sullivan	Kyle	Counsellor
The Hague	Rogers	Brendan	Deputy Secretary General
Tokyo	Kavanagh	Paul	Assistant Secretary
Valletta	Duffy	Patrick	First Secretary
Vienna Emb	O'Leary	Eoin	Assistant Secretary
Vienna OSCE	Callan	Anne-Marie	Counsellor
Vilnius	McIvor	Peter	First Secretary
Warsaw	O'Connell	Emer	Counsellor
Washington	Mulhall	Dan	Assistant Secretary
Wellington	Ryan	Peter	First Secretary
Zagreb	Dowling	Ruaidhri	First Secretary

Question No. 352 answered with Question No. 351.

Question No. 353 answered with Question No. 351.

Question No. 354 answered with Question No. 351.