Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a pleasure to welcome Ms Katsarava. I had the honour to meet her last night, with colleagues. I see my colleague, Deputy Pat Buckley, in the Visitors Gallery.

I commend Ms Katsarava's ambassador, Ms Ana Lominadze and the team in Dublin. They do a fantastic job on her behalf and that of the people of Georgia and its Government.

We had a chance to have a detailed discussion last night. As the Chairman rightly mentioned, the committee passed a strong motion on the territorial integrity of Georgia and in support of its accession to the European Union. To follow on from the point made by Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan, I would like Ms Katsarava to update us on where she sees the process leading to Georgia's accession to the European Union. Are there moves afoot, even in the background by way of discusssions, to try to resolve issues with Georgia's nearest neighbour, Russia, with reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia? I am aware that trade between Russia and Georgia has increased in recent years.

I wish to make a particular point which is more for the committee. The Government has announced the establishment of six new missions as part of Ireland 2025 and the doubling of Ireland's diplomatic footprint. I would be fully supportive of the opening of an embassy in Tblisi. Given the strategic importance of the location of Georgia in the region of the Black Sea, as a fully fledged, mature democracy, we should make the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade aware that the committee would support the opening of an embassy in Georgia. There is a lot of work to be done. Ms Katsarava rightly mentioned the great potential to increase trade between our two countries. The level of trade is tiny. That is the reason a visit by a trade delegation from Ireland to Georgia and a reciprocal visit by a trade delegation from Georgia to Ireland would make a good deal of sense.

I fully support the Chairman on one final item. Citizens of Georgia can avail of a visa free regime between Georgia and EU Schengen countries. Given that Britain is to leave the European Union shortly, this will be the only EU country that will not allow Georgian citizens visa free access. We should start by considering the introduction of diplomatic visas, which would be the bear minimum, and then move to examine how we could improve access between our two countries. That could lead to initiatives such as having direct flights that would increase trade between our two countries.