Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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188. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for details of his engagements with his UK counterparts regarding the detention of Irish citizens in the UK for attending Palestine solidarity protests or breaking the controversial ban on the Palestine Action organisation. [56776/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government maintains close and regular contact with our UK counterparts across a wide range of issues, and this engagement has increased since the reset in political relations in July 2024. I and my officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, like all Government Ministers and Departments, have frequent interaction with our UK counterparts through a variety of channels on many different topics including the situation in Gaza.

The provision of consular assistance to Irish citizens who get into difficulty abroad, including in cases of detention, is a cornerstone of the work of officials in my Department. My officials and I place a strong emphasis on ensuring that Irish citizens receive timely and empathetic consular assistance in accordance with the Department’s Consular Assistance Charter.

Consular assistance is provided in a strictly confidential manner and, as with all cases, my Department does not comment on the details of individual cases.