Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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352. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Saudi Arabia's human rights record, in addition to the issue of potential war crimes having been recently committed in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its allies, will form part of his Department's exploration of the possibility of Ireland negotiating a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia. [3235/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Saudi Arabia significantly increased its visa fees in October 2016. Many other countries have negotiated, or are in the process of negotiating, bilateral agreements with Saudi Arabia to lower visa costs. I consider it important that Irish citizens would also benefit from reduced visa fees, and so my Department is currently exploring the possibility of negotiating a bilateral agreement to this effect. This will require consultation with other Government Departments, in particular that of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald TD.

Facilitating travel between Ireland and Saudi Arabia is imperative if Irish companies are to benefit from the potential of the Saudi market. It is one of my Department’s goals to advance Ireland’s prosperity by promoting Irish economic interests internationally, and our economic relationship with Saudi Arabia presents many opportunities in this regard.

Ireland has strong economic ties with Saudi Arabia, a designated priority market for Ireland under the Government’s Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy, and is our most significant trading partner in the Middle East. Bilateral trade was worth almost €2 billion in 2015, and the balance of this trade is overwhelmingly in Ireland’s favour. It is therefore an economic relationship with considerable benefit for the Irish economy and Irish jobs. In November, I led a trade mission to the Gulf, accompanied by 36 Irish companies and Enterprise Ireland. I saw first-hand the interest that Irish businesses have in Saudi Arabia.

However, the economic partnership that we have with Saudi Arabia does not prevent us from raising human rights and other issues, through the appropriate channels. In addition to trade-specific events, I had meetings with Saudi Government Ministers on my November trip, including the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Nizar Madani. While the detail of this meeting is confidential, I can confirm that I raised human rights issues with Minister Madani. We also discussed the conflict in Yemen, and I can confirm that I expressed Ireland’s concern about the appalling humanitarian situation resulting from the conflict, and about attacks on civilian infrastructures.

I have made my position on the war in Yemen very clear in this House. I unreservedly condemn all deliberate targeting of civilians, and I urge all parties to the Yemen conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. Whether war crimes have been committed is a legal question to be decided by the courts. I have also been consistent in supporting calls for an international investigation into allegations of violations of International Humanitarian Law and the Law of War in Yemen, most recently at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last September.

Ireland has a multifaceted relationship with Saudi Arabia, and the different elements of our engagement are not mutually exclusive. Our economic relationship benefits Ireland’s economy and trade, and I will continue to negotiate bilateral agreements to progress this. I am equally committed to promoting our diplomatic relationship, in order to facilitate our continued engagement with the Kingdom on human rights and on other matters.