Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are many questions but they are all valid. On the Middle East peace process, which we have spoken a lot about and which I have spoken with Deputy Crowe about, I refer to the positive contributions that Ireland is making. Last week in the UN, Ambassador Byrne Nason did what can only be described as a phenomenal job in ensuring that Ireland was not only relevant but actually pivotal in getting a resolution agreed at the UN General Assembly which got the support of 156 countries. Only six countries opposed the resolution and a small number abstained, and it was an Irish resolution on the Middle East, insisting on a two-state solution and referring to previous UN resolutions which recognised the unacceptability of settlement expansion and the need for a fair and lasting peace process. We remain very active on the Middle East peace process at international fora, and my record at EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings and at the UN is pretty strong on that.

As I said before, we plan to have a meeting in Dublin early next year. It is not possible to do it in January so we are hoping to be able to do it in February. It is purely a scheduling reason because we need to get key countries here, we need to get certainty from the most important of those countries that they will attend on certain dates and as the Deputy would expect, these are busy people. I am hopeful we will be able to get an agreed date in February and we will have a number of key EU and Arab countries here to have discussions privately in a retreat-style structure, which is what we want and what we think will work well. We have consulted widely on that to try to get some new thinking into the Middle East peace process which will obviously involve the Palestinian Authority.

On Iran, the human rights situation there is a matter for concern as Iranians do not enjoy freedom of religion and belief, expression or assembly, and there are particular concerns about the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities, political activists, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders. The situation of women is also an issue of real concern. While we have taken on and support the EU perspective on the nuclear agreement because, in our view, it is important to prevent the development of nuclear weapons, that does not mean that we are not critical and, we hope, consistent on the human rights record in Iran.

On Bahrain, I remain very concerned about the human rights situation there. The Bahraini Government has repeatedly stated its commitment to improving its human rights record, and human rights are enshrined in the Bahraini Constitution. Fulfilling this commitment must include allowing space for Bahrainis to express disagreement with or criticism of the government without fear of arrest or mistreatment. I am often confronted with these issues in different parts of the world where politicians ask me with seriousness and respect how we fund NGOs that are critical of our own Government, how we justify doing that and sometimes how we fund NGOs that are critical of other governments that are supposed to be allies that we trade with and work with. The truth is that in any functioning and normal democracy, constructive and transparent criticism through active, mobilised civil society is a good thing, not a bad thing, and governments should not see it as a threat unless, of course, that activism crosses lines into violence and instability. Ireland has been and continues to be consistent on that, whether it is in the Middle East or the Far East.

On Hungary, we have concerns over the civic space available for NGOs to continue to operate there. In some ways it is pretty shocking to have to say that about an EU member state, but it is the truth and these concerns have been exacerbated by the passage of legislation by the Hungarian Parliament aimed at individuals and organisations providing lawful assistance to migrants and asylum seekers. We also have concerns about the position of the Central European University and the difficulties it has been having. It is not a good development, but having said that, my party shares a place in the European People's Party with the governing party in Hungary, and debates around these issues do take place in that forum, as they should because there is a real concern about some of the politics and the direction of policy of the Hungarian Government.

On our UN Security Council, SECCO, campaign, we are in reasonably good shape. Ambassador Byrne Nason and her team in New York are very active. We have focused not only on strengthening relations with traditional friends, particularly across Africa where Ireland has had a very active development programme for many years, but also on building new alliances and friendships across island states in the Caribbean, which are now discussing with us how to build resilience in terms of climate adaptation. We will hold a small island states conference in Ireland next summer, specifically focusing on how to build a blue economy sustainably and how to respond in the context of climate resilience where islands are literally facing hurricanes of increasing strength year after year and rising sea levels in some cases, especially in the Pacific. Very interesting and new discussions and partnerships are starting to take place there and Irish technology and know-how can be very helpful in some of these islands.

We also have very good relationships across the Middle East in terms of our interest and, it is hoped, our balanced input in the Middle East peace process, insisting that a two-state solution must be kept alive, even though many people write it off already, that any peace process has to happen on the basis of parity of esteem between both sides, and that the obligations an occupying force has in occupied territory under international law are followed. Sometimes I am accused of being partisan and anti-Israeli. I am neither but I call things as I see them, as the Government does in terms of international law in agreements at UN level and our hopes and demands around a fair and equitable peace process that can work for both sides and that understands that Israel has genuine security concerns while also understanding that Palestinians need to be treated fairly in their hopes and dreams for a country of their own.

Our SECCO campaign will be very competitive because, unfortunately, we are competing with two other countries that are also very active on the global stage. Two tougher competitors than Norway and Canada could not have been picked and only two get chosen from the three. This vote will take place in about 18 months but we are working hard, we are well placed and we have shown before that we can win a place on the UN Security Council, even when there is stiff competition.

On the E3 visas and the undocumented, I hope that there might be a breakthrough in the next 24 hours. However, we must be careful not to issue firm predictions because we can never be certain what will happen in the US Senate. The Government and Deputy John Deasy in particular have worked very hard on this issue. Our embassy and team in Washington have done a great job in this regard, and I hope that will be recognised if and when we get this across the line with the support of friends of Ireland in the US Congress and Senate who want to progress a structured and sensible facilitation of Irish people who want to get a visa to live and work in the United States. Australia is the only country to receive E3 visas. It receives an allocation of 10,500 visas a year for predominantly young Australians to go to work legally in the US. That special facilitation was granted after Australia militarily assisted the US. In recent years, only approximately half of those visas are used, meaning there is an unused surplus. Of course, we have reassured Australia that we are not seeking to take its visas but only wish to be facilitated with those visas which it does not use and which could be applied to Irish people who wish to travel to the US. To reassure Australia that this will not in any way undermine its scheme, it is proposed that the surplus would be allocated to Ireland in the following year. Australians will not be losing out in any way. Any unused surplus in 2018 would be allocated to Ireland in 2019 and so on. That is my understanding of the current proposal which aims to reassure Australia that Ireland is not trying in any way to undermine its allocation.

We have a significant amount of support on the issue from people such as Congressman Richard Neale, who was a sponsor of the legislation in the US House of Representatives. Some US Senators who have been very helpful are seeking to facilitate this measure which might be approved by the US Senate in the next 24 hours. It must be unanimously approved by the US Senate. A single Senator could prevent it moving ahead. We have worked hard to address the concerns of a small number of Senators and I hope we are nearly there. It is very much about putting a visa system in place for new generations of Irish people, which is very important. For many decades, young Irish people have travelled to the US for work or adventure through various mechanisms to be part of the new America. I consider it very important that new generations of Irish people also have that opportunity, which is why the E3 visa proposal and legislation is of such importance. In return for the E3 visa facilitation, we have offered to facilitate US nationals who want to come to Ireland. No Irish people would find the commitments we have made in that regard objectionable.

On the undocumented, the Government has not lost sight of the pursuit of relief for undocumented Irish citizens in the US. The Government, including my Department, works with our envoy to the US Congress on the undocumented, Deputy John Deasy, and will continue to pursue the goal of trying to provide certainty, relief and safety for the many undocumented who work and live in the US. Many of them are part of Irish immigration centres which we support and fund to help look after them. We initially hoped to get legislation that would also provide a pathway to citizenship for many of the undocumented. The E3 visa is a slightly different vehicle. We will look for opportunities to focus on the challenges that undocumented Irish in the US continue to experience. I am well aware of their current concerns and vulnerabilities.

On Brexit, there is some confusion on the numbers. We began our contingency preparations on the basis of what I have described as the central case scenario. When one is preparing for something, one should start with the most likely outcome. In the case of Brexit, that is that there will be a deal, a withdrawal agreement, a transition and then some type of free trade agreement or similar which it is hoped would involve only limited border checks. In July, the Government agreed to take on an extra 1,077 inspectors and staff in our ports and airports, primarily Dublin and Rosslare ports and Dublin Airport, which are where the vast majority of commercial goods traffic enters the Irish economy. In fact, half of the product going to Northern Ireland from Britain comes through Dublin. The central case scenario would involve approximately 200 customs officials being taken on by the middle of next year. In a no-deal scenario we would need to take on all of the approximately 1,000 staff who would be required in our ports and airports far more quickly. That would involve the recruitment of approximately 600 customs officials, with the other 400 recruits being sanitary or phytosanitary inspectors at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and food health inspectors at the Department of Health. There are recruitment campaigns under way or in preparation in those Departments for those inspectors. The Revenue Commissioners has moved ahead with its recruitment process for customs officers and is in the process of initially recruiting 200 officers. However, a panel of 3,000 people applied for those customs jobs and that panel will allow us to increase quickly the number of customs officials we take on if that becomes necessary in a no-deal scenario. We will provide far more detail around those numbers when we publish a paper to provide an update on our contingency planning for a central case or no-deal scenario. We do not yet have all of the answers because many of the issues are being discussed at EU level and form part of EU competence. However, the EU has published approximately 70 papers on no-deal Brexit planning, so a substantial amount of work has been carried out in that regard. That work must continue and intensify to ensure that we are where we need to be by 29 March to try to mitigate what would undoubtedly be the many downsides of a potential no-deal Brexit.