Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have all been deeply shocked and saddened by the recent event at Sousse in Tunisia, where three Irish citizens lost their lives in this terrible atrocity. I condemn unreservedly these terrorist attacks and other recent attacks elsewhere. I take this opportunity to again convey my deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the families of the three Irish citizens who lost their lives in the tragedy.

Officials in my Department and our embassy in Madrid were immediately deployed to respond to the consular needs of Irish citizens who were caught up in the attack. In responding to crisis situations where Irish citizens may be affected, my Department has a detailed emergency consular response plan in place and a standing emergency consular response centre that can be activated at short notice to provide assistance and advice to citizens and their families. The response centre was activated once news of the attack in Sousse was received by the Department and remained in operation until 6 p.m. the following day, Saturday.

To assist those travelling overseas to make well-informed decisions, the Government publishes country specific travel advice on my Department’s website. This advice is published to make useful information available to assist Irish citizens when planning their trips or when travelling. This advice is reviewed on an ongoing basis and is updated in the light of information received from the Department’s network of missions abroad following consultations with, or advice received from, relevant actors such as national governments, security authorities and EU partners on the ground. In particular, it is updated where there are emergency situations affecting Irish citizens or tourists generally.

In the specific case of the travel advice for Tunisia, having consulted relevant agencies and our international partners, our travel advice was changed to advise against all non-essential travel, the second-highest warning category on our five-point scale for travel advice. We are now encouraging any Irish citizens in Tunisia to review whether their presence in Tunisia is essential. Where this is not the case, we are advising them to leave by commercial means.

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