Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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126. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland will support the upcoming United Nations General Assembly motion from Cuba which condemns the US blockade of Cuba and calls for it to be immediately lifted. [38274/18]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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127. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when he plans to bring the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Co-operation Agreement before Dáil Éireann for ratification (details supplied); and the status of his progress in this regard. [38275/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 126 and 127 together.

Ireland, along with our EU partners, has been a consistent supporter of the annual resolution put forward by Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly regarding the US economic blockade of Cuba. We have voted in support of this resolution on all of the 26 previous occasions that it has been put forward by Cuba.

Ireland’s position on the United States’ trade embargo of Cuba is long-standing and clear. We believe that the embargo serves no constructive purpose. Ireland, along with the other member states of the EU, is firmly of the view that the lifting of the embargo would facilitate an opening of the Cuban economy to the benefit of the Cuban people.

Ireland objects to unilaterally imposed measures that impede the economic and commercial relations of EU member states with Cuba and that are contrary to commonly accepted rules of international trade. Ireland believes that the economic embargo seriously hampers the economic development of Cuba and negatively affects its people.

Ireland looks forward to receiving the draft resolution from Cuba on 31 October this year, and will review and consider the resolution as on the previous 26 occasions.

As well as bilateral engagement with Cuba, Ireland also engages with Cuba by way of the EU-Cuba relationship. The EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement marks an important point in this relationship. The Agreement is the EU’s first bilateral agreement with Cuba, and will improve conditions for EU-Cuba trade and investment. The EU is Cuba’s second most important trading partner, Cuba’s biggest external investor and the source of one third of the 3.5 million tourists visiting the island each year.

I view the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement as an important step in further developing our relationship with Cuba. While most of the agreement has been provisionally applied since November 2017, its full application requires ratification by the EU once all member States have completed their own internal legal procedures. As of now, fourteen member states have notified that they have done so. On the bilateral front, Ireland and Cuba will meet for Political Consultations on 1 October in Dublin. We are in the process of completing our own internal legal procedures, and the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement will be brought before Dáil Éireann for ratification once it has been debated by the Select Committee of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I have requested officials in my Department that they ensure that the notification process is fully completed by the end of the year.