Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides information and advice to prepare citizens before travelling abroad, and offers an objective assessment of the risks they could face. The Department publishes clear, accessible and up-to-date Travel Advice for around 200 destinations, so that citizens can make informed choices about international travel on the basis of accurate and impartial information. Travel Advice is one of the Department’s most consulted services.

Security Status levels are an important component of the Travel Advice service. They allow us to explain to citizens how safe or unsafe we believe a country may be to visit, and help them to make informed decisions about overseas travel. They are also relevant for Irish citizens currently resident abroad or already travelling abroad.

There are four levels of Security Status as follows: Normal Precautions; High Degree of Caution; Avoid Non-Essential Travel; and, Do Not Travel. Out of more than two hundred destinations for which we provide Travel Advice worldwide, twenty-three are currently assigned a ‘Do Not Travel’ Security Status. They are as follows:

1. Afghanistan
2. Belarus
3. Burkina Faso
4. Burundi
5. Central African Republic
6. Democratic Republic of the Congo
7. Gabon
8. Haiti
9. Iran
10. Iraq
11. Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory
12. Lebanon
13. Libya
14. Mali
15. Myanmar/Burma
16. Niger
17. Russian Federation
18. Sudan
19. Somalia
20. South Sudan
21. Syria
22. Ukraine
23. Yemen