Irish diplomat received €30,000 for children’s education fees

A member of the Irish diplomatic corps received almost €30,000 last year towards the corps member’s children’s education abroad.

According to Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore, his department is projecting to spend €1.1m on the School Fees Assistance (SFA) scheme for diplomats serving abroad this year.

Mr Gilmore said €1m was spent last year and the highest amount received by one official was €29,200.

Diplomats in the US got €141,000 last year.

The next highest was €113,700 for diplomats in Belgium, due to the large diplomatic presence at the EU.

Cost for Britain were €101,531, while €62,531 was spent in Israel and €40,894 in Egypt. The cost for Tanzania was €55,776, Mozambique €55,246, and Uganda €46,968.

In a written Dáil response to Fianna Fáil’s Sean Fleming, Mr Gilmore said: “The rationale underpinning the scheme is that children of an officer serving the State abroad should not be disadvantaged in educational terms relative to children in the Irish school system.

“Furthermore, a change of school can be traumatic for any child and my department has a duty to facilitate officers in moving their children with as little disruption as possible between the different education systems of the countries to which they are posted in the service of the State.

“In general, where language, educational standards, and curriculum at accessible local public schools are comparable to Ireland, children of officers attend such schools.

“The SFA scheme allows for reimbursement of additional costs which officers incur when, unable to source suitable publicly-funded education for their children abroad, they are required to place their children in local fee-paying schools or at boarding schools in Ireland.

“Typically, under their conditions of service, officers rotate between three-to-four-year postings abroad and assignments of similar duration at headquarters.

“In such circumstances, the SFA Scheme supports officers in their efforts to provide continuity of education for their children in an English-language school environment.

“In the case of officers serving in Brussels, those who are based at the Irish Permanent Representation to the European Union can secure places for their children at the non-fee-paying European Schools. However, those assigned to our other diplomatic missions in Brussels have no automatic eligibility to places in this school and depending on levels of demand for places, may have to seek a place at a fee-paying English speaking school.”