Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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119. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his diplomatic priorities from now until the end of 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57850/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is engaged on a number of foreign policy and diplomatic objectives. This includes a broad array of engagements held at political and official level, both in Ireland and abroad. This is accompanied by the work of our Embassy network, who are involved daily in the business of maintaining Ireland’s bilateral relationships, promoting and protecting our values and interests throughout the world.

The Department and Ireland’s Embassy network will continue to be active on these issues as 2022 draws to a close. It is important to stress that the diplomatic activity of the Department is extensive and broad and it is difficult to capture all priority engagement in one answer.

The work of the Department in relation to Brexit has been well-documented throughout this year, and my priority is early substantive progress in the EU-UK talks on the implementation of the Protocol on Northern Ireland.

Throughout our term on the UN Security Council, we have brought a principled and independent perspective to a range of key issues. We will continue to be active and constructive until the very end of our term, and to highlight injustices, and call out violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses.

We are working for positive outcomes across the broad range of geographic and regional situations on the Council’s agenda, particularly with respect to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, but also including Afghanistan, Iran, Ethiopia, Colombia, the Middle East, and Syria; and on thematic issues, such as climate and security; conflict and hunger; women, peace and security; youth, peace and security; and the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

We remain active on the Security Council’s subsidiary bodies, including the Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security, which we co-chair, and the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. We are also a co-focal point on the Conflict and Hunger file and we will be facilitating a number of important discussions on this.