Dáil debates

Thursday, 24 May 2018

Topical Issue Debates

Diplomatic Representation

3:30 pm

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I have had a number of engagements in the House with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, in recent times. He has argued very strongly that communication makes sense. He made that argument when it was put to him, for example, that Ireland should be questioning its relationship with Saudi Arabia in light of the total destruction that state is causing in Yemen. He argues that it is better to keep dialogue open in order to communicate. The position was similar regarding the Israeli ambassador after the slaughter in Palestine recently when unarmed innocent protestors were shot dead. It was horrific. However, the Minister stresses the need for communication.

It beggars belief that we do not have an embassy in Tehran. Deputy Clare Daly and I visited Iran last year. We were asked to speak at a Palestinian conference there. I was hugely impressed by the country and the people. They are amazing, beautiful people. They want to do business with Ireland. In the 12 months prior to 1 May, we sold €140 million worth of exports to Iran. That makes sense, but we could be doing so much more. Iran has a population of 80 million. They want to do more business with us. For example, we do not buy any beef from Iran. That is madness. Iranians want to buy our beef. Not only do they want beef for themselves but they do an awful lot of business with countries in the region. If they were to establish strong links with Ireland in the beef trade, they could sell Irish beef to the countries around them, quite apart from what they would consume themselves with a growing and developing population of 80 million. Iran is going to become one of the fastest-developing countries in Asia. It has the second largest economy in the Middle East.

One of the main reasons we are not doing more business with Iran is that we are scared the Americans will not want us to do so. There is a very good reason the Americans do not want us to do business with it. They have a problem with the fact they do not control business interests in Iran. America would do all kinds of things to make sure it can open avenues for its business interests. The nullifying of the nuclear agreement recently by Trump is linked to this and it is not something that European countries were in favour of. All the European countries criticised Trump for breaking the nuclear deal with Iran because there was no evidence whatsoever that Iran had broken the agreement. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, would agree with me and he was not in favour of what Trump did. Is there a prospect in the near future that we will come to our senses and reopen our embassy in Teheran in the interests of both sides, Ireland and Iran?

3:40 pm

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Wallace for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Tánaiste, who sends his apologies. Ireland's diplomatic and consular network is at the forefront of efforts to promote our political and economic interests and values and provide important services to the Irish people and business community. At present, there are 80 embassies, consulates, and representative offices In our global diplomatic network.

Ireland is one of six EU member states that does not currently have resident missions in Iran. At the moment, the embassy of Ireland in Ankara is accredited on a non-residential basis to Iran. The ambassador of Ireland in Ankara travels regularly to Iran in support of our broad policy objectives, including the development of political relations, trade relations and supporting the needs of Irish businesses operating or hoping to operate there. Ireland is also represented in Iran by an honorary consul. Honorary consuls are an important element of the State’s global engagement and provide consular services and assistance, as well as a range of other supports to citizens and to the embassy in Ankara. Honorary consular representation is, of course, of a fundamentally different nature to diplomatic representation and I do not consider it to be a substitute for a resident diplomatic presence.

A range of factors are taken into account, as the Deputy knows, in considering our diplomatic representation overseas, including our national political, economic and trade priorities, as well as the availability of resources. The Government is, of course, conscious of the political, economic and trade factors that might warrant the opening of a resident diplomatic mission in Iran, as in a number of other countries. As the Deputy has pointed out, Iran is an important local and regional power as well as a large potential market. However, resource constraints do not allow us to have resident representation in all the locations that might objectively justify it having regard to all of those factors.

More broadly, the configuration and scale of Ireland's diplomatic network is kept under constant review. Last year, the Taoiseach announced the Government’s Global Footprint initiative to double our global impact and secure our international influence. On foot of this, work has already begun on the initial phase of the expansion of Ireland’s diplomatic network, which includes the Government decision to open new embassies in Santiago in Chile, Bogotá in Colombia, Amman in Jordan and Wellington in New Zealand, and new consulates general in Vancouver in Canada and Mumbai in India. These new offices will open later this year and in 2019.

It is important to stress, and the Deputy raised this, that the closure of the embassy in Teheran was not related to the then nuclear dispute. The Government was greatly disappointed by the US announcement that it is withdrawing from the nuclear arrangement with Iran. Ireland and our EU partners, and a very broad spectrum of international opinion, have made clear that we believe the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, was a significant diplomatic achievement and that all parties to it should continue to implement it in full. We share many of the concerns which the US has expressed about other aspects of Iranian policy but, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, the way to address these is not to move away from one area where significant positive progress has been made, and that remains very much our view.

The EU signatories to the agreement and other parties have already held initial meetings with Iran to discuss the possibility of continuing to implement the agreement, and Ireland will fully support that objective, although the difficulties should not be underestimated.

As mentioned, the question of reopening the embassy will be kept under consideration by the Government and I can confirm that the question of the reopening of the embassy will form part of considerations in the Global Footprint 2025 initiative and will be taken fully into account in ongoing work to the 2025 deadline.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. We opened an embassy in Teheran in 1976 and we had one there until November or December 2011 when Eamon Gilmore was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. We also closed the embassy to the Holy See and one other embassy at the time. In total, three embassies were closed. We argued that we closed them for money-saving reasons. It was not a great argument, but it was some argument given that so many less well-off people in Ireland were being put through austerity and there was some case to be made. The Government now boasts that we have one of the fastest growing economies in Europe so that argument is gone. The truth is that exports to Iran have doubled in the past 12 months to €140 million from €70 million and the Iranians have worked really hard to increase trade.

It is a no-brainer. The Government is in favour of communication but the Iranians would argue there is not enough communication or dialogue, and there is huge potential for it. As far as I am concerned, the Americans have lost the plot in the entire region for a long period of time. They have destabilised the region in a dramatic way. Iran and Syria are two of the few countries they do not actually control. American pressure should not be an influencing factor for us.

I was in Malawi recently. I went out to a refugee camp and some prisons out there. I met Gerry Cunningham, the Irish ambassador. I did not go there to see what the Irish were doing, but it was very interesting and the work they are doing is very impressive. It was very commendable. It makes so much sense for Ireland to be involved in such places. Malawi is one of the poorest nations on the planet. I agree 100% with us working with them, but likewise it is a no-brainer that we should be working with Iran.

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I see that the factors raised by the Deputy possibly warrant a reopening of the resident embassy in Teheran. Iran is a very important regional actor. We want to understand their policies and influence them, but there are also a number of strongly negative aspects to Iranian's actions. These include regional conflicts, missile development and human rights issues. Iran's role in Syria and its support for the Assad regime has prolonged the conflict there. While these aspects do not preclude us from looking at reopening the embassy, they have to be recognised. I agree that on the economic front Iran is very clearly an expanding and growing economy, and the Government recognises there is potential there not just for engagement, but also export and import potential for Irish business, but it cannot be understated that Iran remains complex and difficult, and the market there remains complex and difficult to operate in.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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What about Saudi Arabia and Israel?

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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A lot of work is being done in terms of developing our diplomatic network, and the question of reopening a residency in Iran is not completely out of the question. It will be considered in the overall Global Footprint 2025 expansion.