I believe the Deputy and his party are wrong to call for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador. I understand that sentiment, frustration and anger and wanting to send that clear signal. Keeping diplomatic channels open, in the context of making it very clear to Russia what we think of the illegality of its actions, and being able to call in an ambassador to send direct messages to Moscow and the Kremlin, is both helpful and appropriate at this time. The Deputy's calls for a peace process that can end this conflic…

There are five different Deputies-----

I will do my best to answer everyone's questions if I can. I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 11, 19, 20 and 23 together. I am happy to have an opportunity to answer these questions because this is a very current and worrying series of developments. I am deeply concerned about the unjustifiable and disproportionate response of the Iranian authorities to Iranian citizens protesting against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after her arrest for allegedly violating dress code regulations. Ireland…

I share the concerns of Deputies about this issue. Our voice needs to be heard in terms of condemnation and criticism. We must work with our EU colleagues as well in terms of being part of a collective EU response. In respect of the Iranian ambassador, my Department continues to closely monitor developments in Iran through our chargé d'affaires in Tehran. I raised the case of Ms Amini's death and the Iranian authorities' response to protests directly with my Iranian counterpart in New York a few weeks ago. Senior o…

I hear what the Deputies are asking for with regard to the Iranian ambassador. I ask them to trust me when I say the ambassador knows exactly what our views on this issue are. One of the differences between Iran and Russia is that I have had a number of conversations with my Iranian counterpart because Ireland has a specific role on the Security Council regarding trying to re-establish the joint comprehensive plan of action, which is the Iranian nuclear deal, which is linked to sanctions. I suspect that I will be s…

The Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the situation in Russia in consultation with the Irish Embassy in Moscow. The Department currently advises against all travel to Russia. The security status of our travel advice for Russia was raised to "do not travel", which is the Department’s highest level of warning, on 28 February 2022. On 7 March 2022, Irish citizens in Russia were advised to consider carefully their presence in Russia and those who wished to leave were advised to do so as quickly as pos…

I will update the House because some questions have been asked in the media this morning about the remains of Rory Mason and also about Brian Maher, who was interviewed on "Morning Ireland" this morning. Our consular teams and our team in the embassy in Kyiv are working with Ukrainian authorities to ensure Rory Mason's remains are brought home to his family as soon as possible. Separately, we are involved in a European medevac, effectively, to bring injured EU citizens out of Kyiv and get them home. We are working …

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her latitude on the answer. It was important. There is consular assistance available. We have an embassy. It is not operating at full capacity because Russia has effectively expelled two of our diplomats in response to justified decisions we had to take. We have a presence there. We can and will help Irish citizens but are limited in what we can do for a series of reasons, some of which I have outlined. I do not think the mobilisation that has been announced impacts on Irish ci…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 25 together. The Deputy is right that it is an awful situation and, because there are so many other awful situations around the world, it may not be getting the attention it should. I remain deeply concerned by the deteriorating security, humanitarian and human rights situation in Myanmar. It has been 19 months since the military took control by coup and launched a brutal campaign to retain power and reverse the hard-won progress that had been made in that country. Their actio…

It is now five years since the Rohingya crisis began in Myanmar. The violence and terror perpetrated by the Myanmar military created conditions where 750,000 Rohingya people had no option but to flee their country. Conditions for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Rohingya people to Myanmar remain very uncertain. Approximately 1 million Rohingya refugees continue to seek refuge in Kutupalong, Bangladesh while tens of thousands more are across the region. Over 140,000 internally displaced persons remain con…

On the question of genocide, we are monitoring the cases before the international court. In this respect it is important to note that the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court is continuing to conduct a criminal investigation into alleged crimes within the court's jurisdictions committed against the Rohingya people. That investigation was authorised by the pretrial chamber of the court in November 2019. The prosecutor visited Bangladesh earlier this year and confirmed during that visit that his investigat…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 30 together. Russia’s appalling military aggression against Ukraine has highlighted more than ever the importance of European unity and solidarity in response to the challenges we face. I am in regular contact with my European Union counterparts, including through the Foreign Affairs Council. In this context, I attended informal meetings of EU foreign and defence ministers in Prague in August. During these meetings, EU member states agreed to launch work to define the paramete…

I will put some numbers on the record to clarify the assistance on a bilateral basis that we have provided. Ireland has provided in-kind assistance of approximately 10 tonnes or 5,000 units of ready-to-eat meals as well as 200 units of body armour, which were shipped earlier this year from Defence Forces stock to Ukraine. Our focus has very much been on non-lethal equipment to help Ukrainian soldiers to defend themselves and feed themselves. That assistance has been positively received in Ukraine. There is an under…

When our peacekeepers are in Mali, the Golan Heights, Southern Lebanon or anywhere else in the world, I want them be well equipped. I want them to have modern equipment and software systems on their computers that keep them as safe as possible. I want to ensure the technology that is available internationally is also available for our people. That is not an arms industry. It is ensuring that Ireland has capacity and a transparent approach. When there are industries that we tap into and when there are technologies t…

That is the space we are in. Ireland will never be an arms producer or an arms exporter.

I just wanted to be clear on that.

In order for military forces to be effective, they need to have equipment. We are increasing our budgets, including our capital spend, on defence, which is about increasing capacity. Deputy Gannon and others in this Chamber will rightly ask me the hard questions on the capacity gaps we have in our Defence Forces today. To protect our sovereign territory and monitor essential infrastructure, we need to increase capacity and move to level of ambition 2, which is what the Commission on the Defence Forces has essential…

I answered this question earlier. It is useful to have a channel of communication that allows us to communicate in no uncertain terms what we think of Russia's position on Ukraine and its aggression and invasion of a sovereign neighbour. We called the Russian ambassador into the Department on 3 October to make it very clear that we will never support the referendum results across four regions of Ukraine. They were effectively sham referendums held at gunpoint by Russia. We also have Irish citizens in Russia and acr…

However, it kept the Russian Embassy open.

I do not see where the benefit is, apart from perhaps getting some satisfaction out of it. Expelling the Russian ambassador would mean the Russian Embassy in Dublin would close, the Irish Embassy in Moscow would close and we would cut off all diplomatic channels between Ireland and Russia. Despite our frustration and the communication of protest that would give in the short term, while I understand the sentiment expressed, what it would do is cut off all diplomatic channels. People ask me what Ireland is doing to p…