Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and welcome the statement by the Minister of State. Fianna Fáil is completely supportive of the proposed agreement and the European Union obviously should have the best possible relationships from the point of view of trade and other aspects with a country that has a population of 93 million people. I notice there is a huge imbalance in trade between the European Union and Vietnam, with imports to the value of €22.1 billion from Vietnam into the European Union, whereas exports from the European Union are valued at just over €6 billion. I sincerely hope this proposed agreement will give some scope for the European Union and for Ireland in particular to grow market share in exports to Vietnam.

Ireland is one of four remaining member states that are yet to ratify the agreement. Is there a particular reason for Ireland to be one of the late member states of the European Union to ratify this agreement? I also noticed the briefing notes obtained by members indicated there have been some improvements in the human rights environment of Vietnam. Obviously, however, there are issues there that must be of concern to anyone who values human and civil rights. For example, 15 crimes still are eligible for capital punishment and to judge from the briefing note, the pace of reform has slowed down somewhat in advance of elections in 2016. Does the issue of human rights feature when these complex agreements are being put in place? I sincerely hope it does. In addition, a meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs of Trade will take place after this meeting on the persecution of Christians worldwide and I note religious freedom is a highly contentious topic in Vietnam. The briefing note states the Government is using administrative measures as obstacles to prevent the registration of new churches and religious groups and relations with Catholic churches in particular remain strained. Are these issues still a topic of discussion between the European Union and Vietnam, even though the ratification process for this agreement moves on? I sincerely hope these issues are given due consideration. As the Chairman also mentioned, Ireland has an aid programme there as well and I notice that part of that aid programme is directed towards administrative reform and obviously, the reduction of poverty.

On the position of Ireland, Britain and Denmark with regard to Title V of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the briefing note to the select committee states that as set out in Protocol 21, Denmark, Britain and Ireland are not bound as part of the European Union by the provisions of the agreements that fall within the scope of Title V on the area of freedom, security and justice but Ireland instead is bound as a separate contracting party. The Minister of State might provide members with an idea as to what all this is about. Presumably, this arises from protocols Ireland negotiated in different treaties in the past and which we ratified here, such as Lisbon, Nice or whatever. I seek clarification from the Minister of State on whether these particular issues arise from that process. Nevertheless, the sooner we can put in place the ratification of this agreement the better, while at the same time still continuing to champion, at every forum available to us, the need for an improvement in human rights and the need to remove the death penalty, if at all possible. It must be a source of concern for civil-minded people and countries if one considers that 15 crimes still are eligible for capital punishment.