Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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148. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the contact he has had with Honduran officials regarding the disputed election results which took place recently in the country and the escalating violence as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2877/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are closely monitoring developments in Honduras following elections which took place there on 26 November 2017. I condemn unreservedly the loss of life in the aftermath of those elections and express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims. Freedom of expression and assembly are the cornerstones of any functioning democracy and those rights must be guaranteed. All sides in Honduras must work within the political system to deliver the political reforms necessary to secure the trust of the Honduran people in the country’s institutions.

While Ireland does not have diplomatic representation in Honduras, officials at my Department engage closely with the European External Action Service working through its EU delegation in Tegucigalpa, and meet with human rights defenders and civil society organisations active in that country, most recently in Dublin in October 2017 when the elections were discussed in some detail. Furthermore, Irish Aid contributes funding to programmes in Honduras through civil society organisations, chiefly Trócaire, including in support of its important work on human rights.

As the Deputy will be aware, facilitated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland contributed one long-term observer and one short-term observer to the EU Election Observer Mission to Honduras, beginning in October 2017. Officials of the Department conducted a debrief with the observers in early January. The EU Observer Mission will deliver its final report on the election in the coming months. In its preliminary statement, the Mission gave a generally positive evaluation of the organisation of the elections, while at the same time noting the negative public perception of the neutrality of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the disparity in resources enjoyed by one candidate compared with competitors.

I urge the Government of Honduras to take on board and adopt any recommendations made by the EU observer mission in order to help to restore much needed public confidence in future electoral processes in the country.

I can assure the Deputy that we will continue to monitor the situation closely and maintain contact with actors on the ground in Honduras in the weeks and months ahead.