Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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49. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the findings that Saudi Arabia has used cluster bombs in its recent bombardment of Yemen; if he has raised this issue with his counterpart in Saudi Arabia, particularly in view of Ireland's work on the Convention on Cluster Munitions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3041/17]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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62. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Saudi Arabian Government has confirmed that it has used cluster bombs in its aerial bombardments of Yemen (details supplied); and if he has raised the issue with his British and Saudi counterparts. [3049/17]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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In October, speaking about the success of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and Ireland's central role in its adoption, the Minister said, "A hundred countries are now parties to that convention and such is its success that even for those states that have refused to become parties to it, the use of cluster munitions has been so stigmatised that they will avoid or deny using them." In May 2015, the Minister called on all states, including those that have not signed the convention as well as non-state actors, to refrain from using these weapons. When the Minister was in Saudi Arabia last November, did he repeat this call when he was face to face with Saudi Ministers or when he was interviewed by the media there?

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 49 and 62 together.

I assure the Deputies that I have taken careful note of recent reports of the use of cluster munitions, including their use in Yemen. These well-documented reports of the use of cluster munitions by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen are a cause of deep concern. Ireland's concern has been expressed by my officials at the sixth meeting of states parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Geneva in September 2016 and at the debate on conventional weapons at the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in October.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Dublin in 2008. Ireland has been a major supporter of the movement to ban cluster munitions from the very outset of this initiative. The convention entered into force on 1 August 2010 and as of January 2017, a total of 119 states have joined the convention.

The Government of the UK has confirmed that cluster munitions used by the Government of Saudi Arabia were exported by the UK in the 1980s, before the convention entered into force. The UK is a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In November of last year, I led an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during which time I raised the conflict in Yemen at a number of meetings. I expressed my concern about the appalling humanitarian situation resulting from the conflict and about attacks which have directly impacted on civilians in Yemen. I have unreservedly condemned all deliberate targeting of civilians and have urged all parties to this conflict to respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Together with the Minister of State for the diaspora and international development, Deputy Joe McHugh, I recently announced that Ireland will provide a further €2 million in humanitarian funding to meet urgent needs in Yemen resulting from the civil war that has intensified since March 2015. The donation of €2 million brings our total humanitarian funding for those affected by the conflict to more than €4 million since the beginning of 2016. This will be issued through the UN, trusted NGOs on the ground and the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC.

I met the president of the ICRC, Peter Maurer, in Dublin in November, during which time he told me his organisation is grateful for the continued and solid support of the Irish people. We share many of the ICRC's policy approaches with regard to matters of disarmament. It is critically important that the International Committee of the Red Cross remain an important humanitarian partner for Ireland, operating as it does in some of the most difficult and challenging environments across the world, including Yemen.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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We have diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and conduct trade with it. Am I to understand that the Minister has confronted Saudi Arabia on its use of cluster bombs in Yemen? Has Ireland condemned its military efforts in Yemen, where unbelievable atrocities are taking place? I am not so sure. Perhaps the Minister will get back to me on that. With the help of US weapons and intelligence, the Saudis have been bombing and blockading Yemen for a number of years. Since its beginning, the Obama Administration sold $115 billion in weapons to the Saudis, more than any previous US Administration. The Minister made the point that the UK sales occurred before the late 1980s. However, the US is still selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, and they are being dropped on Yemeni civilians. It beggars belief that a neutral country such as Ireland would not be screaming from the rooftops that this is an incredible atrocity and is totally unacceptable and that we want no part or parcel of it. Has the Irish State made direct, serious complaints to the Saudis on this issue?

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I share the Deputy's concern about the harm to civilians caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide-area impacts in populated areas in recent times, particularly in Yemen. Ireland is engaged with other states and civil society on approaches to establish strict compliance with international obligations on this issue. Ireland will continue to play a leading role in this regard, and I have raised the issue of Yemen and the humanitarian suffering in Yemen directly with the authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am anxious to ensure that Ireland's internationally-recognised position as a leader in this regard continues. The state parties have agreed by consensus to implement their outstanding obligations in respect of the Convention on Cluster Munitions with the aim to implement all of them by the year 2030. I assure the Deputy of my active participation on behalf of Ireland in this regard.

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I call Deputy Seán Crowe. I will let Deputy Wallace contribute further. There will be plenty of supplementary questions.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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I do not want to go over old ground. I think we all agree that the Saudi-led military campaign has been brutal, murderous and highly illegal. Thousands of Yemeni civilians have been killed or injured by the coalition's reckless and indiscriminate bombing of homes, hospitals, schools, factories and even funerals. The coalition has also triggered a humanitarian crisis in the area. The Minister referred to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was adopted on 30 May 2008 and entered into force two years later. It bans the use of cluster bombs and commits the signatories to work to prevent their use by anyone else. What exactly does this mean? We know the British Government has admitted that it was its cluster bombs that were used in the conflict and we know that cluster bombs are particularly indiscriminate. Children are attracted to them because they are colourful and have a toy-like appearance. Again, will the Minister raise this issue directly with the British Government? Ireland and the UK have signed up to an agreement in this regard.

We say we will work to prevent other people using them but the Brits are supplying them to people to use. What does being a signatory mean?

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Ireland continues to play a positive and active role in that regard. It recently issued a statement strongly condemning the use of cluster munitions in Yemen and Syria and we expressed our concern at reports of their use in Libya, Ukraine and Sudan. We also spoke of the challenges facing the convention in terms of new contamination sites and new victims from the use of these weapons in the current conflict. The statement also focused on the need for further and greater engagement in the matter of international co-operation, assistance and updating our work in humanitarian demining, which is linked to our obligations under the convention. The total Irish expenditure on this last year was €2.97 million. In the period 2006 to 2016, it was €38 million. We value our important role in this regard and will continue to help encourage other states to move this issue higher up their agendas.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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At an event last April, Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution who has 30 years' experience as a Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, officer stated that if the United States and the United Kingdom told King Salman of Saudi Arabia on the night of the event that the war had to end, it would have ended the next day. He said the Royal Saudi Airforce cannot operate without American and British support.

The Minister has told us he has raised his objections with the Saudis. We are on good terms with the Americans and the British. Given that the war cannot continue without their help, has the Minister expressed that also to them? In view of the fact that we accept that Saudi Arabia is committing war crimes and is in breach of international law, have we considered imposing trade sanctions on it?

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Government and I want to see an end to the conflict in Yemen. I regret to say that the situation has not progressed for some time. I understand, however, that the peace roadmap, as set out by the UN special envoy and his team, remains on the table. He continues to work to bring the parties together. I exhort all parties not only here but also at the table of the EU Foreign Affairs Council to encourage every opportunity to bring the parties together. As Deputy Wallace has said several times, the process has had some setbacks. The only solution to the conflict in Yemen remains a political one. For the sake of the civilian population who continue to suffer as long as this war rages, I hope the parties will soon agree to reopen negotiations. I urge those with influence in the region, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can play a role in this regard, to use that influence to put an end to the conflict. It is a reflection of wider tensions in the region but the people who suffer are those directly involved, the people of Yemen whose humanitarian situation is dire and continues to deteriorate. There is a responsibility on the international community to exhort all parties to enter into negotiations with a view to finding a political solution to a very difficult and challenging conflict.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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We agree that they should be banned. They are criminal weapons. We speak out but what happens next? Where are the sanctions for those who use and those who supply those weapons? Does the Minister agree that countries need to immediately suspend all further weapon sales to Saudi Arabia? What is the next step for the 120 countries that have signed this agreement to ban and prevent the use of these weapons by anyone else?

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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We will continue to encourage other states to join and ensure there can be an international consensus on a ban on cluster bombs. There are now 119 states and there are others which could be encouraged to join them. I underline that those states which are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, CCM - as Ireland has been for some time and as has its neighbour, the United Kingdom - will undertake never in any circumstances to use, stockpile, transfer or assist in any way with the engagement of cluster munitions.