David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the situation in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19764/23]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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What are the Tánaiste's views on the situation in Sri Lanka? It is an awfully long way away, but there has been an economic collapse there. Things are pretty serious and sometimes what happens in countries like that can have an impact here, eventually.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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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.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I am sure he is aware of the humanitarian crisis that has developed in the country. There is a shortage of fuel and food. The 21 million people there are under intense pressure. There are long queues for fuel. Basics like milk, baby powder and so on are not available on the streets. Serious riots occurred in autumn. Are many Irish citizens based in Sri Lanka at the moment?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I said, the country is continuing to respond to a severe economic crisis, which escalated in 2022 due to the high debt burden and also the pandemic-related fall in tourist numbers and this lead to the suspension of foreign debt payments in April 2022.

There is a small Irish community in Sri Lanka. We continue to provide consular assistance and advice to Irish citizens in Sri Lanka through our embassy in New Delhi and our honorary consul in Colombo. A number of consul visits to Sri Lanka have been undertaken to support Ireland's on-the-ground response to the current economic crisis. The Department currently advises Irish citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to the country.

With respect to our supports, we operate primarily as part of the European context. As I said, Sri Lanka benefits from the EU's GSP+ arrangement, which supports its economic development through trade.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Tánaiste.

One of the issues that is developing there is that people are desperate to leave and they are selling what they have, including property and whatever else. They are mortgaging houses to get out and try to get to Europe and the traffickers are taking advantage of that. Would the Tánaiste bring that to the table in the EU so that it is aware of that and of the pressures people are under and to see what more can be done to assist the people there to get out of this shocking crisis they are in? It is leading to a major humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka with rising inflation, currency collapse and so on.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy again for his insightful and detailed presentation of the case. I was about to say earlier that the focus of the EU's approach with Sri Lanka has been the generalised scheme of preferences plus arrangement, which aims to support Sri Lanka's economic development through increased trade with the EU, as well as by diversifying its exports and attracting investment. That system and the benefits of it are granted on the condition that Sri Lanka implements 27 international conventions on human rights, labour conditions, protection of the environment and good governance.

The EU is Sri Lanka's third most important trading partner and its second most important export destination, with a 13.6% share of Sri Lanka's overall trade. I will work with and talk to Josep Borrell about the broader issue of trafficking, smuggling and the pressure on citizens to see what the EU can do on the Common Security and Defence Policy side and in humanitarian interventions to see what we can do to curtail the work of the traffickers.