Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. Like others, I fully support the motion on Ireland's ratification of the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement. Unfortunately, the process seems to have taken longer than anticipated and we are one of the last EU countries to ratify the agreement. The Minister of State might explain the background there. It is welcome that we are discussing it today and hopefully it will receive broad if not unanimous support in this committee and in the Dáil.

When people talk about the history of Cuba, I think about what was there before the independent Cuban state that exists now. I think of the Batista regime when it was a playground for the rich. The Mafia was involved, people were downtrodden and poor. Literacy was extremely low in the local population. That has all been transformed. For many of us it is a shining beacon in that part of the world to see how a small country, despite all the pressure from a near neighbour, has developed. Its education and health systems are examples for all of us around the world, no matter how developed our countries are. The extraordinary thing for Cuba is that for all the tragedies around the world, it has sent its people in, for example in respect of the apartheid regime, and the invasion of Angola, when the Cubans stood with the South African people. The recent peace process in Colombia probably would not have happened without the facilitation of the Cuban Government. We have a lot that we can learn. I refer to hurricanes and so on and to the doctors who are sent into the shanty towns and the poor areas. There is enormous positivity. Anyone who travels to Cuba meets the people. It is friendly and safe. It ticks all the boxes for a holiday. Society is free and open and people feel comfortable. Anyone I know who has travelled to Cuba wants to go back. That is a great message to be sending out.

There have been long connections between Ireland and Cuba and I hope they continue. The EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement is the first bilateral agreement between Cuba and the EU. The EU is Cuba's second most important trading partner, its biggest external investor and the source of one third of the 3.5 million tourists visiting the island every year. It is important that we have this agreement to build on and improve these ties. However, to date, Ireland's trading relationship with Cuba is relatively poor. This morning we have an opportunity to vastly improve this. I urge the Government to investigate possible avenues where we can improve our trading ties with Cuba. As the agreement will soon be ratified by all EU member states and will come into force, does the Minister of State know of any plans to send an Irish trade delegation to Cuba?

I refer to the issue Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan raised. I have talked to some companies that wanted to invest in Cuba and increase those ties but there has been a monetary difficulty. Has the EU discussed this? How are they going to get around the US embargo? It is the biggest difficulty for trade with Cuba. There is difficulty for ships travelling with goods and so on. I commend the Irish Government on consistently supporting the Cuban motion at the UN condemning this illegal blockade. As the Minister of State said, it is the 27th time. That is something we can be proud of as a country. We have close ties with the US but, at crucial times, it is important that we stand up and speak up for another small nation. Under the Obama Administration, some moves were made to loosen the blockade but the measures did not go far enough. They probably came too late in the term of the Administration as well. Progress was made towards a broad change, however. There was a message that change was coming. The famous handshake at the funeral of Nelson Mandela was the right message, not only in the context of the funeral but also more generally between the US Administration and the Cuban Government.

Unfortunately, the Trump Administration has tightened the blockade to levels never seen before. This includes unilaterally imposed measures. The US national security adviser, John Bolton, was speaking in Miami on the 58th anniversary of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Miami is an important swing state and it is part of the difficulty of US Administrations that they are in thrall to this state, particularly to those who left Cuba. Mr. Bolton confirmed that the US would fully implement Title 3 of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows Cuban-Americans to sue foreign companies if they trade with Cuba. That is one of the difficult barriers that we will have to overcome. It completely contravenes the commonly accepted rules of international law. The US Government must not be allowed to impose extraterritorial measures and should immediately lift its illegal blockade. That is what we are publicly saying and putting into law by passing this trade agreement. Has the Minister of State discussed these extraterritorial measures with her European counterparts and is she working with other European governments to challenge the US Administration on these measures? This is the next challenge that is going to face us. Most important, trade involves finance. On measures that penalise or make it more difficult to trade with Cuba, we need to signpost what they are and try to overcome them collectively. I welcome the fact that it is being discussed. I am a bit concerned that we were such a long time coming to it and would appreciate if the Minister of State can give us the background on that. There is strong support in Ireland for this agreement. Anyone who has travelled to the area is impressed by the quality of life of Cuban people.