Written answers
Wednesday, 14 February 2024
Department of An Taoiseach
Diplomatic Representation
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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59. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on his engagements with the government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6960/24]
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Officials in my Department engage on a regular basis with representatives of Bangladesh, both in Dublin, through the Embassy of Bangladesh, and through the Embassy of Ireland in New Delhi, which is accredited to Bangladesh.
Under the Government's refreshed Asia Pacific Strategy, Ireland is committed to deepening its footprint in countries across the region, including Bangladesh. A new Honorary Consulate in Dhaka is expected to open in the coming period.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD, is due to travel to Dhaka as part of his engagements for St. Patrick’s Day in March. This will be an opportunity to engage with political and economic stakeholders.
Ireland engages with Bangladesh at multilateral level, including at the UN and as a member of the EU, including within the framework of the EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission.
Ireland continues to monitor the broader human rights situation in Bangladesh, including though the UN’s Universal Periodic Review mechanism, where Ireland most recently presented a statement on Bangladesh in November 2023. At EU level, human rights are raised in the framework of the EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission.
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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60. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if will report on his engagements with the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6961/24]
Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Ethiopia is Ireland’s largest bilateral international development partner. In 2022, we provided some €40 million in development and humanitarian assistance, through programmes managed by our Embassy in Addis Ababa and through NGO and international partners. Our assistance supports development priorities related to health and education, women’s economic empowerment, democracy and human rights, and humanitarian response. Following several years of severe drought, along with the impact of conflict in Ethiopia, up to 30 million people in the country are in need of assistance.
While Ireland’s bilateral relations with Ethiopia were affected during the conflict in Tigray and Ireland's work on the UN Security Council, in 2021 and 2022, to highlight humanitarian access and other issues, we have normalised relations with the government following a series of high-level meetings and visits, and ongoing engagement by our Embassy in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian Government agreed last October to the return of the full complement of diplomatic staff at the Embassy.
In November 2023, I visited Ethiopia to reaffirm Ireland’s commitment to partnership on peace and development, including support for transitional justice and accountability measures and the ongoing National Dialogue process. I met with Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide and State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mesganu Arega and was pleased to announce the resumption of Ireland’s support to flagship social protection and health programmes.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD, had earlier met with then Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen in New York in September 2023.
In addition, senior Department of Foreign Affairs officials have travelled several times since 2022 to meet with Ethiopian government counterparts in Addis Ababa.
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