Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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357. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will telephone President Duterte on behalf of a person (details supplied); if he will meet with the person's spouse to hear their perspective; and if he will verify the location of the person's passport. [1743/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am very awareof the extremely difficult circumstances in which this individual and his family find themselves. I have personally raised my concerns about the case, and about the health and wellbeing of the individual concerned, with my Philippines counterpart, most recently at the UN in New York last September.

This is an ongoing legal case. At this time, the priority focus of our Embassy is on follow up to the request to seek to have the appeal process expedited on humanitarian grounds. This request was reiterated at a meeting earlier this month with senior Philippines Foreign Ministry officials.

Our Embassy has also followed up with the individual’s lawyer, the appropriate channel, in relation to the individual’s passport, which is being held as a condition of bail. I understand that the citizen has been given confirmation by the Philippines authorities on the whereabouts of his passport.

This citizen’s spouse wrote to me in November outlining her serious concerns for her husband. Officials from my Consular Assistance team in Dublin are in direct contact with the individual’s spouse, with the most recent correspondence just last month. Department officials met with her in July 2015. My officials will remain in contact with the individual concerned and her spouse, and will consider any meeting request from the spouse if one is received.

At all times, in considering options and actions in this case, our clear objective is to advance the citizen’s best interests and, importantly, to avoid any action that might be counterproductive to his interests.In this context, it is my considered view that a direct approach to President Duterte drawing attention to the citizen’s situation would not be an appropriate course of action at this time. However, all potential actions are being kept under active and ongoing review.

Let me assure you that my Department continues to prioritise this case and that Department officials in Dublin, our Embassy in Singapore and our Honorary Consulate in the Philippines will continue to provide all appropriate consular assistance to this individual and to his family.