Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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295. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has a policy of asking for a report on the way human rights, including the rights of women, are being improved in Saudi Arabia when visiting the country; if not, if this will be policy in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22852/17]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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301. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on recent meetings he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterpart; the dates and times of meetings; the issues discussed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22846/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 295 and 301 together.

I met my Saudi Arabian counterpart, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, at the EU-GCC Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting last July. As we met in a multilateral context, we did not have any substantive discussions outside the parameters of the Meeting. However, the issue of human rights in the Gulf was raised during the Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting discussions. It was noted that although human rights is an area where the EU and the GCC do not always agree, the dialogue must continue, even if this means tackling difficult issues.

I travelled to Saudi Arabia last November, on what was my first visit to the Kingdom as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. In advance of my trip to the Kingdom and during the visit, I was briefed on human rights issues in Saudi Arabia by my Department and by our Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. I did not meet with my counterpart, Minister Al-Jubeir, during the visit as he was not in the country at the time. However, I did meet with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nizar Madani, and we discussed human rights, including the death penalty and the position of women in Saudi society.

As I have stated on numerous occasions, there are many human rights issues in Saudi Arabia, including, but not limited to, women’s rights, that are of great concern to me and to my Department. I would always raise human rights issues on a visit to Saudi Arabia but, as noted above, have only been on one such visit to date. My officials also raise these issues with their Saudi counterparts, here in Dublin, in Riyadh and in multilateral fora. It is Ireland’s policy to promote human rights whenever possible and appropriate, and my Department strives to maintain this principled position in all of its bilateral relations, including with Saudi Arabia.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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296. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when he was last briefed by the Irish Ambassador to the UN regarding women's rights in Saudi Arabia; if these briefings are organised regularly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22851/17]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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297. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he or his officials were contacted by countries that did not want to support Saudi Arabia being appointed to the UN Commission on the Status of Women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22850/17]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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298. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there was contact between Saudi Arabian officials and Irish officials prior to the vote on Saudi Arabia's membership on the UN Commission on the Status of Women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22849/17]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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299. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if information on Saudi Arabia's human rights record was requested by the State, in particular its human rights record relating to women, prior to the vote on its membership of the UN Commission on the Status of Women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22848/17]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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300. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the discussions that he or his officials had with the permanent representative of Ireland to the UN prior to the vote on Saudi Arabia's membership of the UN Commission on the Status of Women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22847/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 296 to 300, inclusive, together.

Ireland has a very strong record on promoting the rights of women and girls at the United Nations. We are a leading voice in this field. Given the centrality of promoting and protecting human rights in Ireland’s foreign policy, my Department closely monitors human rights concerns and issues.

In this respect, the Department seeks to be fully informed on an ongoing basis on current developments regarding human rights in individual countries and regions. It is briefed as a matter of course on developments at the UN by the staff of our Permanent Representations in New York and Geneva, and by relevant Embassies and Consulates across Ireland’s network of missions, among them our Embassy in Saudi Arabia which follows and reports on relevant developments including recent announcements by the authorities in Riyadh on reform of the guardianship system for women.

My Department is therefore very aware of the challenges facing women and girls globally and works at the United Nations and elsewhere to progress gender equality and the empowerment of women. Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN and his staff remain in regular contact with my Department on the wide range of issues that arise at the UN in which Ireland has an interest, including our national priorities across the three pillars of the UN’s work, namely peace and security, development, and human rights.

There are numerous elections across a range of bodies at the UN. Most of the 193 Member States of the United Nations present candidatures for election - some more frequently than others – and, in this context, there are multiple and routine interactions between the member states. There were no representations made to my Department which sought to oppose the candidature of Saudi Arabia prior to the election on membership of the Commission on the Status of Women last month.

In that election, the 55 States in the Asia-Pacific grouping agreed five candidate countries - Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Japan and the Republic of Korea - for the five seats available to their grouping.