Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be able to respond to several of those questions and comment on some of the broader issues that have been raised. Deputy Richmond is correct. The plans for Ireland to increase its footprint and influence across the world are not confined to activity outside of the European Union. The EU will certainly be very different in a post-Brexit world to how it was when the UK was very much a part of it and was an ally of Ireland in so many different policy areas. For some time now we have been investing in increasing our footprint and deepening relationships across the European Union. We have already opened a new consulate in Frankfurt. We have undertaken an Irish-German strategic review that looks at strengthening all aspects of that relationship, including cultural, commercial and political. We have done exactly the same thing with France and Scotland. We are looking strategically at other relationships, such as those with the Nordic and Baltic countries, which share a lot of Ireland's policy perspectives on EU debates. I wish to reassure the House that we are investing time, energy, resources and people to ensure the relationships across the European Union that we will need in a post-Brexit environment. This is appropriate and we will continue to pursue it.

I absolutely agree with Deputy Richmond's comments on Africa. Ireland has a long history in Africa. It is a credible history and not a colonial history. We have shared a lot of our wealth and a lot of our people to assist with education, nutrition, agriculture, climate resilience and knowledge. We hope to do an awful lot more in the future. We are planning to open two new embassies in west Africa. We have not yet finalised the locations. In north Africa, as I said earlier, we will open a new embassy in Morocco and we may also do so in Algeria. This will reinforce relationships there and will open up new political and commercial opportunities. I know Deputy Richmond will be very supportive of this. I take the Deputy's comments on Hong Kong on board. This is an evolving story, on which I suspect I will be answering questions for quite some time.

In response to Deputy O'Dowd, I also want to pay tribute to Ambassador Paul Gleeson. Working from Chile, he did a phenomenal job to ensure Irish people who were trapped in Peru could get home. He was not the only one. He led a team of people who did a really good piece of work over several weeks in a very complex environment. He is one of many examples of people in my Department who do an incredible job across the world. Ms Geraldine Byrne Nason is another example. I was wondering where she got her toughness. Clearly Drogheda is the link. She is quite frankly a force of nature in her work in the UN. She played a major part in our success in taking a seat on the Security Council and she will continue to have a huge influence on how Ireland uses the opportunity of Security Council membership in the ways to which many people in this House have already referred.

I refer to the North-South Ministerial Council. We have a lot of work to do to rebuild better relationships between the North and South of this island, with the Executive and particularly with unionist parties. We must also strengthen the relationship with other parties. Brexit has had a corrosive influence on relationships for the last several years. This Government will work hard to try to address some of that damage.

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