Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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51. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of relations and engagement between the State and Western Sahara’s Polisario Front; if the Government recognises the Polisario Front as interlocutors for the Sahrawi people; and if this Government will commit to recognising a sovereign Sahrawi state. [3417/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ireland’s long-standing position on Western Sahara is one of full support for the UN-led process, including the MINURSO Mission, and the efforts of Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, to achieve a political solution to this long-standing dispute. It is our hope that these efforts will help achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

UN Security Council Resolution 2756, adopted on 31 October 2024, extended the mandate of the MINURSO Mission by one year, until 31 October 2025. As per this and previous Resolutions, I have called on all parties to the dispute, and on the wider international community, to support and assist the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Western Sahara as he continues his engagements with the parties to the dispute. I welcome the visits and consultations he has undertaken to the region.

I also support the call in the UNSC Resolution on all parties to cooperate fully with MINURSO in carrying out its important mandate.

My officials, at HQ and in our Mission network, discuss the conflict as part of our ongoing political engagement with the involved regional actors, including the Polisario Front. Ireland views the Polisario Front as a party to an ongoing conflict.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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52. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade what engagement, if any, his Department has had with Spain regarding the status and conditions of political prisoners in that country, in particular the status of Basque political prisoners and the campaign for their repatriation to their homeland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3418/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The placement of a State’s nationals within its prison system is a matter for the Government and the relevant competent authorities of that State, in accordance with domestic, European and international law. As such, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the matter in question.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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53. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will call on the Iranian government to intervene to save the life of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3419/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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54. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the urgent diplomatic actions the Government is taking to prevent the execution of a person (details supplied), a Kurdish humanitarian worker and civil society activist sentenced to death in Iran; and whether he will publicly condemn this sentence while engaging with his Department to apply diplomatic pressure on the Iranian government to halt this execution and end the persecution of activists. [3520/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 54 together.

I am deeply concerned by the continued use of arbitrary detention and the use of the death penalty as a means of suppressing political dissent and human rights activism in Iran. This is a principal focus of Ireland's engagement with Iran on human rights issues. Ireland is strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances. The final and irreversible nature of the death penalty underlines the impropriety of its use as a criminal punishment. Accordingly, Ireland continues to seek its universal abolition.

Most recently, In January Ireland raised the death penalty at the Universal Periodic Review of Iran at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. We highlighted Iran's use of the death penalty and harassment and imprisonment of human rights defenders, especially women. We called for the end of all executions in Iran. Ireland also raises the issue of the continued use of the death penalty and other human rights abuses in Iran, both directly in bilateral discussions and in international fora such as the Human Rights Council and the United Nations Third Committee on Human Rights.

I will ask my officials to look into the circumstances of the case raised by the Deputy. I regret however that there is at present little sign of Iran responding positively on these issues. Ireland will continue to call on Iran to cease the use of the death penalty.