Our Strategy and Guiding Principles

The mission of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is to serve Ireland, promote our values and interests abroad, and to provide the Government with the capabilities and influence to ensure that Ireland derives the maximum benefit from all areas of its external engagement.

The department's Statement of Strategy focuses on how we implement the commitments assigned to us in the Programme for Government 2025: Securing Ireland's Future and meet international challenges. We have identified six high-level goals to guide our work in our DFAT Statement of Strategy 2024-2025 which are as follows:

• Support peace and reconciliation at home
• Serve our citizens and strengthen our communities abroad
• Lead and shape the European agenda
• Respond to a changing geopolitical context
• Deepen our global engagement and drive our trade and prosperity
• Build our capacity to innovate and deliver

This Statement of Strategy is informed by the Global Ireland Strategy and A Better World, Ireland's policy for international development.

Read our DFAT Statement of Strategy 2025-2028.