Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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385. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which he can directly, through the EU and/or UN, influence colleagues throughout Europe and the developed world aware of the vulnerability of refugees, particularly women and children, who are very often at the mercy of traffickers, warlords and others; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4764/23]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland maintains a consistent focus internationally on issues relating to refugees and displaced persons.  We raise these issues in UN and EU meetings, highlighting in particular the plight of the most vulnerable, including women and children.

We fully support EU efforts to adopt a comprehensive approach to migration, including through resettlement and increased legal pathways for migration, addressing root causes of forced migration and reforming the Common European Asylum System. We welcome the current emphasis on external aspects of migration, including work on co-operation and mutually beneficial partnerships with countries of origin and transit which are key to preventing irregular migration.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and coordinate the international response to the assistance and protection needs of refugees. Its 2023 Global Appeal estimates the number of refugees internationally at 117 million, an increase of some 14 million people since last year. 

Ireland has a strategically important partnership with UNHCR. Our support of over €25 million in 2022 included €10.5 million for core funding for the agency.  We also provided funding for UNHCR's response to specific crises, in Jordan, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Uganda, Tanzania and Ukraine. In December 2022 Ireland pledged to provide a minimum of €22 million to support UNHCR's work with refugees in the coming year.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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386. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which he continues to support the rule of law throughout Europe as appropriate with EU colleagues and through the UN General Assembly throughout the developed work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4765/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Respect for the rule of law is a cornerstone of liberal democracy and, as such, integral to Ireland’s foreign policy. As Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, I am committed to its promotion at home, throughout Europe and beyond.

The European Union is inherently a community of values. Collectively these values underpin the EU’s strength, integrity and coherence, particularly in the face of external threats such as we now face. As we celebrate Ireland’s fiftieth year as an EU member state, it is incumbent on us to recognise where such core values are threatened and to engage constructively to address them. To that end, Ireland has supported the European Commission in developing a comprehensive range of tools to reinforce the rule of law across the EU. We contribute actively to regular Rule of Law discussions at the Council in Brussels. Recognising that protecting the rule of law requires continual reform, we also welcome objective assessment of our own record in the area. In that context, we look forward to engaging with the European Commission in the months ahead as it conducts its annual independent assessment of the Rule of Law in each of the EU’s Member States.

Ireland advances the rule of law across other multilateral forums, including the Council of Europe, the leading pan-European organisation for its protection and promotion. As Presidency of the Council of Europe last year, Ireland reinforced the organisation’s founding freedoms, prioritising support for the European Court of Human Rights. Having visited the Court in Strasbourg myself last year, I look forward to welcoming its President, Judge Síofra O’Leary, to Dublin on 1 February, to reflect on how, through the Council of Europe, Ireland can do more to renew democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across our continent.

Our engagement on this critical issue is not limited to Europe, however. At the United Nations in New York and Geneva, we champion the rule of law, supporting the independence of the judiciaries who enforce it and the free press and civil society who hold states accountable for its implementation. Equally, through our international development programme, to which over €1.2 billion has been allocated this year, Ireland funds a range of projects to promote good governance and combat corruption, aiding our partners in reinforcing the rule of law.