Written answer
Election Monitoring Missions
168. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if she will examine options to enable Ireland to deploy Irish roster election observers to significant elections in developed democracies, including in EU member states such as Hungary and Bulgaria, the United States and Canada; if she will consider providing a small supplementary allocation under Vote 28 or establishing a formal cross departmental funding mechanism to support such missions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23335/26]
Comment on this
The Government is strongly committed to the promotion of democratisation, the protection of human rights, and the advancement of the rule of law, as core pillars of Ireland’s foreign policy. Support for international election observation represents an important element of this commitment. Ireland has contributed observers to such missions since the 1990s.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade maintains and administers a dedicated roster to facilitate participation in election observation missions organised by the OSCE and the European Union. The current five year roster, which commenced on 1 January 2024, has 169 members.
The budget for the roster was increased by 50%, last year, from €200,000 in 2024 to €300,000 in 2025. The majority of the 116 members who have participated across 29 missions since the start of the current roster cycle have been supported through this budget. It is, however, limited to supporting nominations to missions in countries eligible to receive Official Development Assistance (ODA), as classified by the OECD.
Where missions take place in countries which are not eligible for ODA, financial support may be provided from other Department budget lines to allow for Irish representation and participation, as was the case for the US Presidential Elections in 2024, the Romanian Presidential Elections in 2025, and for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections in Hungary. Decisions in relation to participation in missions for countries which are not eligible for ODA are taken on a case by case basis.