Ireland will spend €7 million on its chairmanship this year of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Half of it will be spent to host the OSCE ministerial council meeting in Dublin in December, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said.
The Government spent €729,278 last year on preparations for the chairmanship. To date this year €150,842 has been spent. Mr Gilmore will chair the OSCE in 2012 and will “bear overall responsibility for the executive action of the organisation” this year.
He said in a parliamentary reply to Fine Gael TD Terence Flanagan that “Ireland was one of the founding states of the OSCE and we recognised the organisation’s vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe”. Mr Flanagan had raised the budget, costs and benefit of holding the chairmanship. The Tánaiste said the role would raise Irelands profile, “thereby contribution to the restoration of our international reputation”.
Defending the outlay, Mr Gilmore said the ministerial council meeting would generate about €2 million to the economy.
