Embassy and mission spend drops by just 0.3% despite office closures

Expenditure on Ireland’s embassies and diplomatic missions abroad fell by just 0.3% last year, despite the closure of three offices including the controversial decision to shut the embassy to The Vatican.

The cost of running our representative office in Timor Leste (otherwise known as East Timor) actually increased by 18% in 2012, despite the fact that it closed over the past 12 months.

New figures published by the Department of Foreign Affairs show spending on the 78 embassies and diplomatic mission fell to just under €52m last year — a reduction of just €149,630 on the previous year’s budget.