Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
431. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the breakdown of the total cost of sending and receiving diplomatic bags over the past five years with individual costs associated with each expedition laid out (details supplied). [11651/22]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, 1961 my Department operates a diplomatic bag service to transmit post, equipment and supplies to and from Ireland’s network of 97 diplomatic and consular missions. The service was procured under EU guidelines and is provided by a professional logistics company with worldwide reach. In an average year some 5,000 diplomatic bags are sent and received by my Department’s headquarters Registry. This essential and confidential service is part of the operations of a modern and efficient foreign ministry. The cost of the diplomatic bag service over the past five years and in 2022 to date is set out in the following table. Costs are not recorded on a mission-by-mission basis.
|
2017 € |
2018 € |
2019 € |
2020 € |
2021 € |
2022 to date € |
|
441,414 |
475,116 |
610,731 |
478,146 |
565,383 |
85,112 |
