Written answers

Wednesday, 13 January 2021

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Human Rights Cases

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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384. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts that have been made to secure the release of a person (details supplied) from prison in China; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1098/21]

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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388. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1259/21]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 384 and 388 together.

I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has been providing ongoing consular assistance to this citizen through our Consular Assistance Unit in Dublin, our Embassy in Beijing and our Consulate General in Shanghai.

I can also confirm that this citizen is not in prison in China. However he has been subject to an exit ban and therefore has been denied permission to leave China.

Our Consul General in Shanghai has been meeting and engaging regularly with the citizen since last March, and we continue to provide all possible consular support and advice. Our focus has been on supporting the citizen’s well-being, while he and his legal team seek to resolve the outstanding legal, commercial and financial matters with the appropriate authorities.

The case has been raised regularly at senior political and diplomatic level with the relevant authorities in China, and with the Embassy of China to Ireland. These engagements have highlighted the humanitarian aspects of the case, and the importance of the citizen being allowed to leave China and return home as soon as possible.

The Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate to discuss the details of any individual consular case, nor to comment on matters pertaining to a legal process in another jurisdiction. However, I can assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to provide all possible consular assistance to the citizen until he is permitted to return to Ireland.

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