Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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5. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the level of engagement between his Department and the Government of Indonesia in 2024 and to-date in 2025. [21506/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's relationship with Indonesia is strong and growing. It reached a significant milestone in 2024 when we celebrated the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Embassy of Ireland in Jakarta. The opening of a resident Irish Embassy in 2014 has been critical to enhancing Ireland's relationship with Indonesia, and to increasing awareness of Ireland in Indonesia.

My Department is also in regular contact with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in London, which is accredited to Ireland. The Embassy is active in Ireland and regularly hosts events to promote bilateral relations.

My Department has significant engagement with Indonesia in multilateral fora, both through engagement with our respective regional organisations, the EU and ASEAN, and through global organisations such as the UN and OECD. In February 2024, then-Minister of State with responsibility for International Development and Diaspora, Seán Fleming T.D., and then Indonesian Foreign Minster Marsudi, both attended the EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Brussels. This meeting resulted in a Joint Ministerial Statement addressing a wide range of issues faced by Ireland and Indonesia, including EU-ASEAN cooperation, trade, climate and emissions, and human rights. During UN High Level Week 2024, Ireland and Indonesia co-hosted an Afghan Women's Forum event for the second time. Ireland has also part-funded the secondment of an Indonesian official to the OECD to support their accession process to the organisation.

There has also been a good level of direct political engagement between my Department and the Government of Indonesia in recent years. In September 2024, the then Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs met with then Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on the margins of High Level Week at the UN General Assembly.

During this meeting they signed a Memorandum of Understanding on holding regular Bilateral Consultations. In follow up to this, officials from my Department will meet with Indonesian counterparts in Dublin later this week, for bilateral consultations on a range of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues.