As we have been very vocal on this issue, that has created some tension, although I had a long and constructive, if direct, meeting with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in New York in September. Ireland has made it its business on the Security Council to raise concern and to shine a spotlight on this issue. We are very concerned about the future of Ethiopia. It is possible that Ethiopia, a country of 115 million people, could fracture causing enormous instability in the Horn of Afri…

I thank the Deputy. I know he raised the issue before the elections took place and I do not think the results are surprising. Ireland and the EU stated on numerous occasions that the elections that took place in Nicaragua on 7 November were not going to be either free or fair, and that unfortunately has been the case. No credible opposition figures were allowed to run and no election monitoring was permitted. We have witnessed in recent months a severe crackdown on journalists, opposition politicians, human rights …

The EU is considering how it should respond and how that response can be impactful on the regime without further impoverishing the people of Nicaragua. The EU is likely to come back to this. I understand Mr. Ortega's inauguration is due to be in January. I do not expect the EU will be invited to that, and if it were to be, I am not sure EU ambassadors would attend anyway. The European Commission is looking at options for member states to consider to apply appropriate pressure, recognising the extraordinary change t…

The fact the election observers were not allowed to observe the elections makes that more difficult. The evidence of credible candidates being detained and not allowed to participate in the elections is strong evidence in itself. I agree with the Deputy there is a tendency to paint this as something the USA is taking a stand on and the absence of other international actors expressing concern feeds into that. The comments I have heard from Josep Borrell and other EU leaders on this issue have been strong. The EU sta…

There has been a steep deterioration in the situation in Belarus since Alexander Lukashenko’s fraudulent re-election as president in August 2020. Tens of thousands of Belarusians protested in response, calling for fair elections, justice and a better future. This movement has been suppressed through state-sponsored violence, the use of arbitrary detention, and criminalisation of opposition activities, including protests. According to the Belarusian human rights group, Viasna, more than 850 political prisoners have …

Deputy Howlin raised this issue earlier. We have a dual responsibility to show solidarity with Poland, but also with Lithuania and Latvia which have been targeted. We also have an international and moral obligation to ensure that the welfare of migrants is protected, as it should be under international law. That is difficult to do when migrants are being effectively bussed in a tactical way to try to create as much tension as possible, which essentially is what is happening here. Migrants are being flown from parts…

The tragic tactic here, in terms of the images of migrants on our borders not being able to get in, is to try to make the EU look bad. It is an incredibly cynical tactic. A number of migrants have died in these circumstances. This is an awful situation. From an EU perspective, we have to support EU member states in the challenges that have been effectively foisted on them by the Belarusian regime. As I said earlier, we also have to internationalise the issue. We need to ensure that the international media has acces…

I visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in the first week of November. This was my fifth visit as Minister for Foreign Affairs. In respect of Ireland's role on the UN Security Council, I had useful exchanges on peace and security issues in the wider region, including the situation in Syria and Lebanon, and on regional security. I had detailed discussions with Israeli and Palestinian interlocutors, the UN and civil society on the Middle East peace process and the situation in the occupied Palestinian…

Many people predicted the new Israeli Government would not last very long because it is a coalition of eight different parties, some of which have diametrically opposing positions on certain issues. However, it has managed to pass a budget, not only for one year but for two, and the expectation now is it may last for a period of time. That is welcome because we need stability in the area and we need an Israeli Government we can talk to as an interlocutor to try to make progress on a peace process about which Irish …

The answer to the Deputy's second question is "No". I am not aware of any such moves even though I have spoken to quite a number of foreign ministers in regard to Ireland's rationale for passing that motion. For now, I do not see any momentum behind that particular approach. I certainly stand over the decision we made, collectively as a Parliament, that the strategic nature of the expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory should now be considered as a de facto annexation. However, what we h…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 14 and 17 together. Passport service operations have been severely disrupted by Covid-19, as were many Government services. Notwithstanding this, the passport service has issued more than half a million passports to date in 2021 and 45% of simple adult renewals issue within one business week. Current passport processing times are ten working days for simple adult online renewals, 15 working days for complex or child online renewals, 40 working days for first-time applicants on p…

We know, because of the number of people who contact me in this House from all parties, that many people have had difficulty in getting their passports in the timelines they need or want. Approximately 7% of passport applications that have been given a delivery date can go beyond such a date. We are working intensively to correct that to make sure that if a date is given on the system, the Passport Office delivers before or on that date in order that people can get more certainty on their travel arrangements and so…

I take the point. It is important to make a distinction between the facility that we have set up for Oireachtas Members, which is for emergency passports, and the general call centre in the Passport Office that can be contacted by the general public and by Members’ offices. This service did not exist at all until we set it up. Many people had been coming directly to me and my office to say that a family has to travel on Friday, but it does not look like the passport will have arrived until Monday or Tuesday. They a…

If we turn that into the normal practice for following up passports, we will undermine the whole system. I am asking for some co-operation in that regard.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 13, 35, 40, 57, 65 and 70 together. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle might give me a bit of latitude with time.

Of course. Talks are ongoing between the EU and the UK on the implementation of the protocol on Northern Ireland, which is part of the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK. The European Commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič, and David Frost met most recently on Friday last. They agreed to continue and intensify talks at official level. They will meet again tomorrow. Following last week's meeting, Vice President Šefčovič noted the need to make serious headway this week, particularly on the supply of me…

On Deputy Richmond's questions, the UK position is outlined in what is known as a command paper, which it published during the summer. There is much in that command paper that the EU simply cannot facilitate but there are certainly elements that can be the basis of agreement. That is particularly the case as regards goods coming from Great Britain that we can show are staying in Northern Ireland, in terms of the removal of the vast majority of checks that are currently required on those goods. It is important that …

I thank the Deputy. The White Paper on Defence sets out an ambitious programme of capital investment in the Naval Service, including the mid-life refit and upgrade of the P50 class of vessels and the replacement of the flagship LÉ Eithne with a multi-role vessel, MRV. The MRV is an important element of the defence equipment development plan and is provided for in the Government's national development plan as a major capital project. It is the Government’s intention that this new vessel will provide a flexible and a…

I am more than aware of the recruitment and retention challenges across the Defence Forces and we are acting on those. I launched a recruitment campaign specifically targeting potential Naval Service recruits in Haulbowline in June. To date, 78 new personnel have been inducted, including 65 recruits, eight cadets, three direct entry specialists and two rejoined listed personnel. I am not saying that solves the problem because it does not. This is going to take time. One of the big tasks of the Commission on the Def…

To be clear, the subsea cables that connect Ireland internationally are not at the moment the legal responsibility of the Irish Naval Service. That being said, we want to improve capacity all the time and we are investing in our fleet in order to do that. We have invested significantly in our naval fleet in the last ten years and we will continue to do so. We have to do that in a way that is planned and consistent with the capital investment programme. The commission report will allow us to focus very strategically…