Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is absolutely correct; we are in a global world and it is a smaller global world. Sri Lanka has been facing huge challenges, not least relating to the impact of climate change, which has been severe. Sri Lanka is facing a severe economic crisis as a result of high national debt and the collapse of tourism during the Covid pandemic. This lead it to suspend foreign debt payments in April 2022. In this context, I welcome the specific financing assurances Sri Lanka recently obtained from bilateral creditors. While Ireland holds no bilateral sovereign debt, we are a member of the Paris Club and we encourage efforts to ensure debt sustainability for countries like Sri Lanka. Ireland is also a member of the Asian Development Bank and supports the bank’s ongoing assistance to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka benefits from preferential trading arrangements with the EU. These generalised scheme of preferences plus, or GSP+, arrangements mean lower tariffs for its exports. I welcome the efforts Sri Lanka has made to comply with the requirements for GSP+ status, which included ratifying 27 conventions on labour standards, environmental protection, good governance and human rights.

Specifically on human rights, Ireland engaged with Sri Lanka this year during its universal periodic review at the UN Human Rights Council in February. I underlined the need for inclusive national dialogue and an immediate moratorium on the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Ireland will continue to promote human rights in Sri Lanka through this mechanism.

The Embassy of Ireland in India, which is accredited to Sri Lanka, actively monitors the situation in Sri Lanka in close consultation with the EU delegation in Colombo. Ireland’s ambassador to Sri Lanka visited the country in recent weeks. During this visit he exchanged views with the President of Sri Lanka, its Minister for Tourism and Lands, numerous senior officials and civil society. Ireland will continue to engage with the Sri Lankan Government and people as the country seeks to emerge from the current crisis.

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