Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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400. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No.158 of 15 September 2020, the date on which it was decided to suspend the contribution by Ireland to international election observation missions of the OSCE; the person who made the decision; if his attention has been drawn to details of the current OSCE election observation missions in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine that include 177 volunteer long-term election observers from 17 countries, including extensive contributions from the UK and other EU member states; if he plans to make contact with the Department of Health to discuss when Ireland can recommence contributing to these and future OSCE election observation missions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34887/20]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Since the restriction measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic were implemented in March 2020, Ireland has not nominated observers to participate in international election observation missions.

Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the OSCE suspended standard election observation missions (EOMs). The OSCE EOM to North Macedonia which had commenced activities on 1 March 2020 was suspended due to the global health emergency and all the election observation personnel already in place were withdrawn.

The rationale for Ireland’s decision not to nominate volunteers for EOMs at this time has been outlined in detail in response to Parliamentary Questions No. 396 of 6 October, No. 158 of 15 October, and No. 655 of 3 November. Upholding the health and safety of all concerned is the overarching priority, feeding into the wider array of factors to be taken into account in considering the nomination of election observers. The pandemic poses significant risks to the health and safety of election observers, the communities in which election observation would be carried out, and to observers' families and home communities on return. This requires careful consideration of prevailing public health and overseas travel advice in Ireland; the epidemiological situation in Ireland and abroad; and the particular challenges posed by election observation missions, given extensive travel within the destination country and close contact with residents as well as election observers from other countries.

While the OSCE initially requested nominations for short-term observers (STOs) for elections in Montenegro, Ukraine, Georgia and Republic of Moldova, public health reasons meant the OSCE then reconstituted the missions as a Limited Election Observation Missions (LEOM). Observers from eleven of the 27 EU Member States participated in these missions.

Just as national COVID-19 measures more generally are a matter for each Member State of the EU and the OSCE to decide, so too is the decision to participate in election observation missions. COVID-19 conditions and measures vary widely due to the unpredictable and dynamic nature of the pandemic.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, along with other concerned Departments and public bodies, participates in the COVID-19 Senior Officials Group coordinated by Department of An Taoiseach. This working group is concerned with ensuring the operation and services of Departments and public bodies are aligned with the COVID-19 (Level 5) framework currently in place. In the event that the possibility of resuming nomination to international election observation missions is likely, that group would be the proper forum for broader consultation to consider the risks to public health as outlined above. I look forward to a return to nominating potential Irish election observers as soon as the public health situation prudently allows.