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

I have a written reply but it is not much good to the Deputy, so I will talk off the cuff if that is okay. We have not had any representation on this issue, apart from Deputy Crowe. I am happy to be helpful on this issue, if we can, through our embassy in Cairo.

It is a good and active embassy. However, no company, stakeholder or interested party has reached out to us with a concern. A legal case is under way relating to cargo that was on the ship, the commercial interests around that and so on. We cannot interfere with that legal case and it needs to take its course, but if there are diplomatic issues that we can help with, I am open to doing so. Clearly, the Deputy probably knows more than I do about the specific frustrations and concerns of some Irish commercial interests linked to that cargo. If he wants to get in contact with the Department, we will see if we can be helpful. We cannot interfere with or influence a court decision in Egypt, but if there are appropriate diplomatic channels that we can use, we are certainly open to doing so.

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