John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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246. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the engagement he has had with the Canadian government and its respective agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27340/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has had extensive diplomatic and political relations with Canada since the foundation of the State, celebrating 85 years of diplomatic relations in 2024.

There has been significant bilateral high-level political engagement in recent years. Over the St Patrick’s Day period in 2025, Minister Timmy Dooley visited Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Prime Minister Mark Carney joined Minister Dooley to participate in the 200th Montreal Saint Patrick’s Day parade. During his visit, Minister Dooley also met with Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and Kody Blois, then Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Rural Economic Development.

Last September, as Taoiseach, I met with then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in New York in margins of UN High Level week. For St Patrick’s Day in 2024, the then Taoiseach, in his previous role visited Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto and met with Prime Minister Trudeau as well as many other high level interlocutors.

In 2024, there were two inward visits to Ireland at a Canadian federal level, the Speaker of the Canadian Senate Raymonde Gagné led a senatorial delegation, which included meetings with President, Taoiseach, Tánaiste and a programme of Oireachtas engagements, and the Canada-UK Parliamentary Association, visited Belfast and Dublin and their programme included meetings with the Tánaiste and a programme of Oireachtas engagements.

More broadly, the Government has delivered on its commitment in Ireland’s “Strategy for the US and Canada 2019-2025” to significantly strengthen Ireland's diplomatic presence in Canada, opening new Consulates in Vancouver in 2018 and Toronto in 2022. In addition to the fulltime diplomatic presence, Ireland has a number of honorary consuls in the Provinces of Alberta (Calgary and Edmonton), Newfoundland and Labrador (St Johns), Nova Scotia (Halifax), and Quebec (Quebec City).

Our diplomatic presence is complemented by the presence of Ireland’s state agencies. Enterprise Ireland, IDA and Tourism Ireland, who have offices in Toronto, with Enterprise Ireland also present in Montréal. Last year, the Government announced plans to open a new flagship “Ireland House” in Toronto which again represents significant Government investment and the high priority of our engagement in Canada.

Following the election and formation of the new government in Canada earlier this month, I look forward to meeting my newly appointed Canadian counterparts in due course.