asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) the number of officials at the Soviet Embassy in Dublin, (b) their official designations, (c) the restrictions, if any, on their freedom of movement in the country, with similar details in regard to the Irish Embassy in Moscow.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Soviet Embassy.
16.
The staff of the Soviet Embassy in Dublin currently comprises four diplomatic officers, three administrative/technical staff and eight service personnel, totalling 15 Soviet citizens—a number which is temporarily below the maximum number of 17 agreed at the outset. The staff at the Irish Embassy in Moscow, excluding locally recruited personnel, consists of five diplomatic officers and two administrative/technical staff. The principle of reciprocity applies to the terms of travel for the staff of the two embassies.
Could the Minister indicate in reply to the third part of my question regarding the restrictions, if any, on the freedom of movement? Are there restrictions either here or in Moscow?
There are restrictions in regard to the distance that people may travel.
Two hundred miles.
Does the Deputy want to know? They are free to travel up to 40 km from the centre of each capital.
And to travel outside that distance is it necessary to get approval from the appropriate Minister's office here or in Moscow?
Here.
Given the nature of the society that we have here, how on earth does he police the travel restrictions on members of a foreign embassy in the capital?
That is a separate question.
It arises from the reply.
That may be so but it is a separate question.
If the Minister does not wish to answer in relation to the original question whether either here or in Moscow there are any locally selected staff at either the Irish Embassy in Moscow or the Soviet Embassy here——
There are.
How many are there and what kind of jobs do they do?
In each area there is the staff of the country to which the ambassador is accredited. There are two Irish citizens on the staff of the Russian-Dublin Embassy and there are some Russians on the staff of the Irish Embassy in Moscow, in each case at a lower level.
Would the Minister regard the condition of our roads as a deterrent to travel?
We are getting ridiculous now.