Overseas diplomats get €2m ‘hardship’ payment

Allowances based on levels of hardship in certain cities

THE Department of Foreign Affairs has paid out more than €2million in “hardship” payments to overseas diplomats during the past two years.

The “hardship postings” are calculated based on the challenges of living in certain cities such as Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, and even the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

Figures released under FOI show that €1.18million was paid out to 162 diplomats last year, an average of around €6,900 per person.

Embassies and missions are broken down into five separate categories from A to E, with an A listing considered the most onerous of locations by the department. There were three cities classified as A postings last year by the department, all in Africa: Monrovia in Liberia, Freetown in Sierra Leone, and Abuja in Nigeria.

Payments totalling just over €128,000 were made to 12 diplomats working in those cities last year, or around €10,700 each.

Five cities were categorised with a B ranking by the department, Jakarta in Indonesia, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Ramallah in Palestine, Maputo in Mozambique and the Iranian capital of Tehran. Hardship payments of around €190,000 were paid to 19 officials of the department serving in those cities in 2022, roughly €10,000 per person.

Cities ranked C last year included Beijing in China, Kyiv in Ukraine, New Delhi in India, and the Egyptian capital Cairo.

In 2021 Kyiv was ranked D by the Department but its hardship level was upgraded because of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

No payments are made for cities with no hardship designation, including most of the EU capitals and missions in the US. The Department of Foreign Affairs said the allowances were calculated based on several factors including climate, health, air pollution, language and culture, availability of goods and services, isolation, social network and leisure, housing, personal security and levels of political tension.

The department said: “Hardship allowance is paid at certain missions to compensate officers for the level of hardship at a post. The amount payable depends on the level of hardship.

“The total amounts paid [also] vary depending on the number of posted officers and the duration of the year that they spent on posting.”