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

Among the shake ups and changes that occurred when this Government came to power was the addition of a trade promotion division to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the inclusion of "Trade" in the Department's title. While legitimate concerns were expressed about this new direction, I welcome a whole of Government approach to trade promotion and recognise that Irish embassies and consulates are in a unique position to promote trade and investment.

However it is worth reminding the House about Ireland’s long-standing foreign policy goals and primary focus on human rights, development, the rule of law, peace and democracy. It is vital that our current economic crisis is not used as a smoke screen to override these long held and important strategic principles. When the Taoiseach and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation travelled to Saudi Arabia recently on a trade mission, they praised the unelected Saudi monarchy for its moderation and commitment to peace in the region. This is the same regime which is fundamentally opposed to democracy and abhors human rights so much that women are banned from driving or even leaving their home without being accompanied by a male relative. It is also the same regime which has been known to train and finance radical and violent Sunni Muslim armed groups to destabilise other countries in the region which challenge their negative and backward role in the Middle East. It is also the regime that allowed its armed forces to support the sectarian dictatorship in Bahrain and facilitated its crack down on democratic protests. The Arab spring and push for democracy were welcomed as long they were not in its own backyard. When challenged on their comments and asked by the media whether they had raised human rights concerns with the Saudi regime, the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, stated that they were on a trade mission and that it was not appropriate to raise these concerns. One wonders why they attempted to raise any political issues or why they needed to praise the regime in the first place.

As the committee's report states, Ireland's focus on the increased need for trade should not come at the expense of our long-standing contribution to international peace, security and human rights. I would compare the Taoiseach's approach with that of the committee when it sent a delegation, of which I was a member, on a trade mission to Iran shortly after the aforementioned visit to Saudi Arabia. We were able to easily and openly discuss trade issues alongside human rights and other important concerns. This begs the question of why the Taoiseach was unable to do likewise in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the world’s worst human rights abusers.

This leads me to the area of policy coherence for development debate. We cannot continue to agree to trade deals which undermine our foreign policy and development goals. For example, the Government supports the development of a free trade agreement with Colombia. Even though the Colombian Government is a notorious human rights abuser and Columbia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist, the Government wants to sign an agreement which rewards the regime and the economic elite of Colombia.

Surely, trade agreements should only be signed when they are mutually beneficial, promote development and sustainable economic growth and focus on eradicating poverty but with a caveat to ensure the protection of human rights. The same goes for the fishing agreement signed with Morocco which allows EU ships to plunder the fishing stocks of the occupied western Saharan people who were not consulted in any way and will not benefit. We should be strongly opposed to the deal. It is vitally important that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade focus on improving Ireland’s trade in developing and emerging markets.

There is general agreement that the State is still far too dependent on the British and US markets. While these relationships need to be nourished and sustained, we must continually review and widen our focus on new trade and investment opportunities in new and emerging markets. With this in mind, I welcome, as does the report, the Ireland House approach, essentially the co-location of our embassies and State agency offices. This not only reduces costs but also helps to facilitate a united approach to trade policies and allows a pooling of resources. I hope it will also lead to better outcomes. It is vitally important that these trade policies place a focus on the all-Ireland economy. While fiscal powers have still not been devolved from Westminster to the North - something the Government needs to push for and challenge - investments in the North will not only benefit society but also have positive spin-offs for the Border economy and the economy of this state.

As the report notes, St. Patrick’s Day offers Ireland a unique opportunity to access the corridors of power and speak directly to world leaders. It is worth noting and welcoming, as the report does, the hard work the Department has done to help to spread the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations beyond the historical Diaspora centres. The spread around the world is unique to Ireland and can be developed and encouraged.

I refer to the section of the report that deals with Britain and the European Union. It rightly states the concerns we should have about the proposed referendum on Britain leaving the Union. Trade between Ireland and Britain is worth €14 billion a year and should Britain go ahead with the referendum and remove itself from the European Union, it could have not only a very serious impact on Irish-British trade but also on the development of an all-Ireland economy. The option is being pushed by elements in London and British society. The Irish Government must be proactive in its plans on the issue and prepare to meet all scenarios.

I welcome the report which is positive and wish the Department well in its future role. I look forward to working collectively at the committee and in this Chamber. We want to see this process develop, as well as Ireland's connection with other countries. We must have a view of the world. Our past means that we have a unique view of the world and the world looks differently at us. What is different about Ireland is that we have no hidden agenda in our trade with other countries, whereas one can argue that former colonial countries do. We are, therefore, in a unique position. In most places around the world there is warmth towards Irish people and a warm welcome. We have many doors open to us. There is also great potential to grow the economy. I genuinely believe we must look at who we trade with and how we trade with them. Is it beneficial and does it promote human rights? That is not to say we should not try to involve companies and bring them along on trade missions and visits. In recent years we have started to get our act together, which is a positive development.

I thank the committee for bringing forward the report and giving us the opportunity to speak about it.

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