Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Would it not have been more logical to wait for the completion of the review of our foreign policy and then to decide which embassies would reopen and where new embassies would be established? I am delighted that the Vatican embassy will reopen, but the criterion in that regard was the fight against global hunger and poverty, which is wonderful. Is this part of the strategy for all embassies? As the Minister acknowledged, Deputies Seán Crowe, Eric Byrne and I visited Iran as part of a delegation recently. Many of us, in particular Government Deputies, were regretful about the closure of the embassy there. It was said that had been done for economic reasons and the impression was given that it would only be a matter of time before it was reopened. We were only back one week when the list of embassy openings and reopenings was announced, with no mention of Iran. The timing was bad in this regard.

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