Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number and range of formal diplomatic protests made by him or the Government to embassies or states to date in 2008; the issues on which the protests were made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38457/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Officers of my Department at home and abroad, and I personally, take every opportunity to raise relevant concerns in our ongoing bilateral and multilateral contacts with representatives of other Governments.

Officials at Irish Embassies abroad regularly make various forms of diplomatic representation in the countries to which they are accredited on behalf of Irish citizens abroad who may find themselves in need of consular assistance.

In terms of specific diplomatic demarches to other Governments, in March this year, following security measures directed at monks and other protestors in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, the Department of Foreign Affairs conveyed the Government's very serious concerns regarding the situation there, including the use of force and treatment of detainees, to the Chinese Embassy in Dublin.

In April and May this year, our Embassies throughout Africa carried out ten urgent démarches on behalf of the Government to relay our strong concerns nationally regarding the situation in Zimbabwe. These démarches expressed our alarm about the serious violence and intimidation being carried out against the Movement for Democratic Change and other opposition supporters, as well as the political impasse in the country. They also registered our dismay in relation to the failure to issue final results of the presidential elections more than a month after the event.

I have in recent days instructed that further démarches be made to members of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and to the African Union in respect of the current deeply disturbing stalemate in Zimbabwe.