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Volume 8 1945~1948

Doc No.
Date
Subject

No. 447 NAI DT S9433

Memorandum for the Government by the Department of External Affairs
'Appointment of Consular Officers (Honorary and Career)'

Dublin, 18 November 1947

  1. The Minister for External Affairs is making arrangements for the appointment of Honorary Consular representatives in places abroad in which some provision for the performance of Consular functions is necessary, but in which the appointment of a whole-time salaried official could hardly be justified in view of the amount of work to be done. Provision for the making of such appointments is contained in the Estimate for External Affairs for the current financial year. Honorary Consular representatives perform most of the normal Consular functions - grant of Visas, endorsement and renewal of Passports, answering trade and other enquiries, servicing ships, etc., - but, of course, particularly if they are citizens of the country in which they reside, they are apt to prove less effective vis-à-vis the local authorities than whole-time Consular representatives. Their cost, on the other hand, is small, being limited to an allowance of £100 or £150 a year to cover office, stationery and other expenses. Appointments would be made either in places in which there is a substantial number of Irish citizens likely to require the services of a Consular representative, or in places in which, in the opinion of the Ministers concerned, our trade interests or the interests of our shipping and air services made the appointment of a local Consular representative desirable. Generally speaking, appointees will be Irish citizens, if there is a suitable Irish citizen resident in the area, or, if not, prominent residents of suitable standing and occupation in the locality concerned.
  2. Honorary Consular representatives will be appointed and commissioned by the Minister for External Affairs. Under the provisions of Section 1 of the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936, however, appointments of Consular representatives must be made on the authority of the Government. The Minister for External Affairs is advised that this Section applies to the appointment of Honorary - as well as of Career - Consular representatives, but that the requirements of the Section will be satisfied by a general decision of the Government authorising him to appoint as Honorary Consular representatives from time to time such persons as may appear to him suitable. The Minister for External Affairs would be glad to have the authority of the Government for the appointment of Honorary Consular representatives in accordance with this advice.
  3. The Minister's attention has been drawn, in this connection, to the fact that assignments of officers of the Department of External Affairs to Consular posts in the United States have hitherto been made without the authority of any such decision by the Government. Under the existing practice, the specific authority of the Government is sought for the appointment of diplomatic representatives formally accredited to foreign Governments (i.e., Ambassadors, Ministers, High Commissioners and Chargés d'Affaires en titre); but Section 1 of the 1936 Act having always been regarded as having a constitutional, rather than an administrative, purpose, appointments and promotions of Consular personnel - as of junior diplomatic staffs - have been made in the ordinary course of departmental administration. On the basis of the advice which the Minister has received, these appointments would also require to be made on the authority of the Government. Accordingly, the Minister for External Affairs would be glad to have a general decision of the Government authorising him to make such appointments, transfers, and promotions to Consular posts as may appear desirable or expedient in the normal administration of his Department. He would be glad to have also the covering authority of the Government for the appointments, transfers and promotions made since the passing of the 1936 Act, particulars of which are contained in the annexed schedule.1
  4. The Department of Finance has concurred in the terms of this memorandum.

1 Not printed.

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