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

The memorandum of understanding has been long awaited and is very welcome. I noted that the Secretary General said it was an honour to be present on that occasion. He also spoke about friendship and future trade. However, at the same time it must have been embarrassing for him that Irish banks have closed the accounts of Irish friendship groups because the word "Cuba" was in the title. That is the bottom line. It is also embarrassing for us, as a supposedly sovereign country that has power over its own activities, that this continues for Irish people and Irish friendship groups. We are not talking about vast amounts of money, just small amounts. However, those accounts were closed at the behest of Bank of Ireland arising from a directive from American institutions. Has the Minister had any conversation with the American ambassador, for example, about this issue? It is detrimental to relations between Ireland and Cuba and it shows disrespect to the Cuban people.

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