Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not in a position to speak to the ICS but I will get Deputy Brady an answer on the trade agreement. That trade agreement is in force and I have not heard of any difficulties with it or of any corporations being able to change Irish laws because of that. It has unquestionably been good that we have had increased free trade with Singapore. Maybe when we are discussing the possibilities in agreements that are not yet ratified we should look at what has happened in previous agreements but that is a separate issue and I will get the Deputy an exact answer on that.

Deputy Stanton is correct to raise the human rights issues and they are of concern to us. He also mentioned Singapore's Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, which is a concern. Human rights issues are taken into account and this particular partnership agreement gives us a platform to engage with and influence Singapore on these issues. We could decide to have no relationship or trade whatsoever with Singapore and we would begin to lose influence on human rights issues. What is happening on the ground is that concerns have been raised by member states about their work and about the work of civil society in Singapore.

We constantly engage with civil society in Singapore and seek t

We constantly engage with civil society in Singapore and seek assurances from the Ministry of Home Affairs about academics, and their work, but concerns remain.

The specific Act that Deputy Stanton mentioned is not yet in force. The Irish embassy, in co-operation with EU colleagues, will continue to monitor developments and the manner of implementation, if it comes into force. It give us a platform on which to engage and influence issues such as the death penalty and the issues that have been raised. Many countries have abolished the death penalty. This year, France celebrated the 40th anniversary of abolishing the death penalty and it is approximately 20 years since Ireland officially abolished the death penalty but there are many countries with whom we trade that have a death penalty, and there are some famous examples. I am certain that this particular agreement gives us a better platform on which to engage with the Singaporean authorities on this and other issues.