Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will do that. Another thing I would like to air with the Taoiseach is that, if he is departing the scene as Taoiseach in 2017, he might consider reopening the Iranian embassy. I do not think it would be a bad idea. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, who is in the Chamber, mentioned something of that nature last year. Iran has the second-largest economy in the Middle East. It has a population of 80 million. There is incredible potential for growth in Iran.

There is a very interesting article about Iran in The Guardiantoday. A Houses of Parliament committee in the UK, the Lords international relations select committee, has been looking at Britain's Middle Eastern policy. The article quotes its report as concluding that "The UK must fundamentally rethink its approach to the Middle East and potentially distance itself from the “mercurial and unpredictable” leadership of Donald Trump". The article continues, "Former cabinet ministers, senior foreign policy advisers and diplomats warned the Foreign Office against relying too heavily on the US President and urged the UK to completely redraw its approach to the region". The article also states, "The report concluded Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, should support the Iran nuclear deal." President Mr. Trump may undermine the deal. It also states:

The group is chaired by the former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Howell and includes former foreign policy advisers to William Hague and Gordon Brown, the former UK ambassador to the UN, Lord Hannay, and the former Labour Defence Secretary, Lord Reid.

“In a world less automatically dominated by the US underpinning security in the region, it is no longer right to have a stance at every stage of ‘if we just get on with the US everything will be alright’, Howell said.

We too should have a more independent line in how we deal with countries like Iran. At European level, we should be arguing for a more open approach. We do business with Saudi Arabia. I do not think one would have to be a rocket scientist to say that Iran is more transparent than Saudi Arabia in how it does business. Some sanctions have been lifted but because our banks still refuse to do financial transactions with Iran, because of pressure from American financial institutions, we are falling behind other Europeans. Many Europeans are back to doing plenty of business with Iran. Considering that there are 80 million people in Iran, it is still going to be playing catch-up in the next few years.

There is huge potential for a country like Ireland, especially in the dairy products sector, to have an impact there. Refusing to do so is shooting ourselves in the foot.

On the issue of the Middle East, it might be time, given that many Europeans are questioning following the diktat of the United States 100%, to rethink the role of Shannon. We have had this argument many times here. It is time to rethink our facilitation of the US military which has caused such destruction in the Middle East. It might be interesting if the UK takes a more singular line in the area. It might be an opportunity for Ireland to do likewise. Moving to a position where we are a much more neutral country, prepared to make decisions based on what is best for the people of Ireland, and not to follow the diktat of the US military would be a very positive position to take. I am an optimist, but I do not expect the Taoiseach to close Shannon to the US military just before he steps down. It is the direction we should be going.

The Taoiseach might have a think about opening the Iranian embassy. It is common sense.

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