Taxpayers picking up €43.5K tab for Irish Ambassador's UK pad -- per month
The London residence of the Irish Ambassador to the UK is costing the taxpayer €43,500 per month – and is just one of a string of high-cost properties being rented by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The department has confirmed that it paid British estate agency Knight Frank €522,394 in 2024 to cover just a single-year lease on the property that's home to Ambassador Martin Fraser, a former Secretary General at the Department of the Taoiseach.
The colossal bill for the property on Grosvenor Place – one of London's most expensive areas – was part of at least €3.95m paid out last year in rental costs for residences for senior Irish diplomats across the globe. Martin Fraser. Pic: Photocall Ireland/GIS
Other sky-high lease costs included payments of €485,000 for the official residence in Tokyo, €291,000 for an apartment in New York, and €204,000 in payments in San Francisco. Meanwhile, the rental bill in Tel Aviv was almost €200,000, around €176,000 in Boston, and €135,000 in Seoul, South Korea.
The department also ran up 15 separate hotel and accommodation bills in excess of €5,000 last year, according to figures that were released under Freedom of Information legislation. This included a spend of €30,480 at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin 4 to host a delegation during the state visit by the President of Vietnam last October. There was another bill of €9,300 from the same hotel for a visit by the Egyptian president in December, while €5,241 was paid for accommodation at the Seven Alpina Hotel as part of Ireland's participation in the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.
The department said a €8,408 bill at the four-star Fifty Sonesta Hotel in New York was for a staff member who was taking up a new diplomatic posting. Pic:Among the other bills last year were €24,054 paid out to the Dublin Airport Authority for 'platinum services' for visiting dignitaries. The Department of Foreign Affairs said this covered three separate delegations from Vietnam, South Africa, and China. To offset the carbon emissions of globe-trotting diplomatic staff, a sum of €99,623 was paid to the Government's climate action fund.
The department said these payments have been government policy since 2020 and that the fund was used to support climate-related projects and initiatives in Ireland. In addition, a total of €97,000 was paid in legal 'settlement costs' at the Passport Office, a database of departmental expenditure for 2024 showed.
But the department was tight-lipped on what was involved and stated that 'further details can't be released on confidentiality grounds'. A furniture removal bill of €26,019 was incurred last December, which covered the cost of bringing art back to the National Gallery and the Office of Public Works (OPW) from the continent.
The department said: 'Pieces from Berlin and pieces from Stockholm were transported and returned to Ireland.
'The artworks on display in our mission properties are key promotional tools, helping us to promote Irish culture, values and heritage.'
The art transport bill was part of at least €900,000 that was spent on removal and storage costs for staff packing up and moving to missions across the world.
Other costs for the department included €4.65m for passport booklets and €8.6m for postage and courier costs.
Around €64,000 was spent on chauffeured cars, €11,600 for a BMW vehicle in Washington DC, and a further €43,000 for 'items of artistic value'.
There were €3.7m worth of invoices for major maintenance on residences overseas, including redecoration and construction.
Asked about the high rental bill for the London residence in particular, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the property had been chosen following a market assessment process.
On hotel and other VIP costs, they said: '[We are] responsible for the effective management of incoming visits by Heads of State and Government and other high-level foreign dignitaries coming to Ireland. These visits advance Ireland's values and interests, unlock opportunities, strengthen bilateral and multi-lateral relationships and position Ireland as a proactive and influential global partner.'
This lavish spending is not new, as nine years ago, the MoS reported that a staggering monthly rent of €46,000 was being paid by the taxpayer for the Irish Ambassador's residence in Tokyo, Japan – when the most expensive property in the city at the time cost 30% less at €33,000 per month.
Then-Ambassador Anne Barrington complained to the Irish Times that her husband's privacy had been violated after we revealed that he used the ambassadorial residence as a business address. The paper later printed a clarification which read: 'An article in last Thursday's edition stated that Ed Miliano, husband of Anne Barrington, is a designer and illustrator. Mr Miliano is an artist.'
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