A total of 126 foreign diplomats stationed in Ireland have escaped sanctions after committing alleged road traffic offences in the State over the past decade.
According to new figures provided by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, members of the Russian diplomatic mission account for the highest number of alleged road traffic offences among diplomats.
In figures provided to Meath West TD, Johnny Guirke, Mr Coveney confirmed Russian diplomats have committed 22 of the 126 alleged road traffic offences between 2010 and the end of last year.
The Minister also confirmed members of the Egyptian diplomatic mission committed nine alleged road traffic offences, while Saudi Arabia had nine, Georgia and Bulgaria had six each, and the Czech Republic, Hungary and Iran each had five offences.
Other diplomatic missions to feature include Nigeria and Palestine (both four), and China, Croatia, South Korea, Latvia, Slovakia, United Arab Emirates (three each).
Last year, nine diplomats escaped any sanction concerning alleged road traffic offences and this followed 11 in 2019 and 15 in 2018.
Diplomatic immunity
Mr Coveney stated: “The number of alleged road traffic offences committed by members of the diplomatic community in Ireland is proportionately low. In general, Diplomatic Missions operate in compliance with Irish law.”
He stated road traffic offences allegedly committed by people entitled to diplomatic immunity in Ireland may be brought to the attention of the Department of Foreign Affairs by Gardaí.
In such cases, the Department reminds resident Diplomatic Missions about their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires all persons enjoying privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State, and informs the concerned Diplomatic Mission of the alleged incident, Mr Coveney said.
He added the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides a diplomatic agent shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention, and they shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State.
Mr Coveney said diplomatic immunity "must be expressly waived for criminal proceedings to commence".
He added there are currently 63 resident Diplomatic Missions in Ireland with approximately 1,250 diplomatic agents, including their spouses and families.
