Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The promotion and protection of human rights is a foreign policy priority for the Government. We consistently raise our concerns on human rights through the most effective and appropriate channels, including bilaterally, particularly through our mission network.

The Deputy will be aware that international trade is a competence vested in the European Commission under the EU treaties, whereby the Union's negotiating strength is as a bloc of 27 member states representing some 450 million citizens. This ensures that actions, decisions and negotiations conducted by the Commission on behalf of the member states are more impactful than unilateral action by a single member state.

The EU's network of bilateral trade agreements also provides a platform for us to engage with our partners on sustainable development issues, including human rights, the environment, labour standards and trade and gender. Ireland supports the broader positive EU approach to ensure that there are strong and ambitious chapters on trade and sustainable development in free trade agreements, as part of the EU's value-based trade policy, which are consistent with international legal commitments and standards.

Ireland continues to support the EU in its efforts in implementing a more assertive approach to the implementation of trade and sustainable development chapters of free trade agreements, which reflects our commitment to values-based trade.

The approach was emphasised in last year's EU trade policy review that Ireland endorsed. The review recognised that progress on trade and sustainability issues, including human rights, will also depend on the actions of our global partners and that trade offers a valuable conduit by which to positively influence such actions.

As a small, open economy, I am sure everyone in the House will agree that Ireland benefits immensely from our export-orientated enterprises trading across the globe. Therefore, we fully support balanced international trade and the suite of EU free trade agreements that seek to underpin this. In tandem, the primary focus of all trade missions and associated meetings is to maximise opportunities to help Irish companies to access new markets and to increase the levels of foreign direct investment into Ireland.

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