MOVING AN EMBASSY, fixing a leaky roof and bomb-proofing two buildings.
These are some of the costs involved in the maintenance and upkeep of Irish embassies abroad which cumulatively cost the Irish taxpayer €5.7 million in 2011 and 2012.
While most Irish embassies cost relatively little to maintain, with the embassy in Cape Town costing just €281 in 2011, some were subject to extraordinary expenditures, such a “massive” leak in the roof of the Irish Embassy in Washington DC that drove costs there up to €196,626 last year, up from €88,799 in 2011.
The largest single expenditure was the €748,430 spent by the Irish Embassy in London, which went towards moving the Irish Passport and Visa Office to a new premises.
The Irish Permanent Representation to the European was refitted in the run-up to Ireland’s EU Presidency, costing €126,956 in 2011 and €96,564 in 2012.
The Belfast and Armagh Secretariat’s were both upgraded after a security check to ensure that they were bomb-proof. The work in Belfast cost €132,284 in 2011 and Armagh cost €76,294 in 2012.
The Irish Embassy in the Nigerian capital of Abuja was the subject of a €272,000 overhaul last year, after a security concern at another nearby embassy, while the transfer of the embassy at the Holy See to the embassy in Rome cost the state €281,000.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said that the new premises was more cost effective and would prove a long-term saving.
The figures were revealed by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore in response to a pair of Parliamentary Questions on the issue.
Gilmore stated that the expenditure covered necessary maintenance and repairs.
These premises need to be maintained, repairs are inevitably required from time to time, operating requirements change and it sometimes proves necessary or advantageous to relocate to more economical accommodation.
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