Update: Irish Embassies – Foreign Affairs 7th October, 2014

Question No. 438

Parliamentary Question – Oireachtas
　
To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the various Irish embassies or consulates throughout the EU and worldwide continue to be used as a means of promoting this country and establishing new trade contacts; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
– Bernard J. Durkan.
* For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 7th October, 2014.
Ref No: 38230/14 Proof: 498

REPLY

Economic diplomacy is a central part of the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and of Ireland’s network of Embassies and Consulates abroad. The promotion of Ireland’s economic interests overseas is vital to the recovery and development of the domestic economy. The Department is committed to using its full resources, at headquarters and through the Embassy network, to promote Ireland’s economic and trading interests, cultural profile and reputation internationally.
The work of the Embassy network is essential to efforts to enhance Ireland’s international reputation and to drive economic recovery through the promotion of trade, tourism and investment.   The Embassy network is uniquely placed to influence key decision-makers and opinion formers around the world.   In the wake of the economic and financial crisis, the Embassy network has played a particularly important role in repairing and enhancing our reputation and promoting economic recovery.   In addition, our Embassies in the EU have played a key role in mitigating the impact of the crisis, through sustained engagement with EU institutions and member states, supporting the restructuring of the promissory note, the clean exit from the EU/IMF programme and the recent agreement on early repayment of IMF loans.
In 2013, the Embassy network supported a total of 136 high-level visits with a significant economic or promotional dimension across 52 countries. The Embassy network also undertook more than 730 engagements to facilitate trade and investment supporting jobs in Ireland, as well as more than 660 specific engagements to promote Ireland’s economic position to office-holders worldwide. Ambassadors and Embassy staff engaged with over 1,150 representatives of the international media to promote Ireland’s profile and global reputation, and key messages on Ireland’s economic recovery and its strengths as a location for foreign investment were promoted in opinion articles and interviews in the international media reaching more than 53 million people. Speeches and public presentations by Embassy staff promoted Ireland’s interests directly to audiences of over 778,000 around the world.
The Embassy network has continued this work throughout 2014. In particular, the unique promotional opportunity presented by St. Patrick’s Day has been used to full effect to advance Ireland’s economic interests. This year, our Embassies and Consulates, 60 percent of which are staffed by just one or two diplomats, helped to deliver an average of 17 promotional events and engagements each during the St. Patrick’s Day period, across 133 cities in 68 countries, and supported 30 trade-focused high-level visits. The Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Ministers and the Embassy network promoted key messages on trade, tourism and investment in opinion articles and interviews in the international media reaching more than 23.5 million people. When overseas media coverage of events that were part of the high-level visits or supported by the Embassy network is added, wider audiences of at least 80 million people were reached.
Our Embassy network plays an important role in the implementation of the Government Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy. In priority markets, our Ambassadors chair Local Market Teams, which consist of representatives of the Embassy and State agencies that are present in the market and are responsible for the development of annual Local Market Plans. The implementation of these plans is reviewed by the Export Trade Council, which I chair, and which works to strengthen cooperation and coordination across all Government Departments and State agencies involved in the promotion and development of trade, tourism and investment.
Recognising the important contribution that our Embassies and Consulates make to the promotion of Ireland’s economic interests overseas, the Government decided in January of this year to open eight new diplomatic Missions €“ five new Embassies and three Consulates-General. These new Missions include newly-established Embassies in Bangkok (Thailand), Jakarta (Indonesia), Nairobi (Kenya) and Zagreb (Croatia), along with the reopening of the Embassy to the Holy See, and Consulates in Hong Kong (China), São Paulo (Brazil) and Austin (Texas, US). The opening of these new Missions will expand the global reach of our economic diplomacy efforts and strengthen our capacity to advance key national interests in trade, tourism and investment promotion, as well as building our broader diplomatic relationship with the countries concerned.