Written Answers Nos. 197-209
197. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether Ireland has been invited to the emergency ministerial meeting on Palestine being hosted by the Hague Group in Bogotá on 15 and 16 of July 2025, if he intends for us to join the Hague Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37200/25]
View answerBoth I and my officials interact with a wide variety of international partners on the Middle East which remains a major priority for this Government.
Ireland’s engagement is guided by our longstanding and principled position, notably respect for international law, respect for the equal right to self-determination, peace, security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and unwavering support for the two-State solution. While Ireland is not a member of the group referred to by the Deputy, this Government is committed to working with partners around the world in service of these objectives.
In the current context, the situation in Israel and Palestine remains a standing agenda item on the Foreign Affairs Council each month. This enables me to exchange with EU counterparts on this key priority on a monthly basis. The next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council will take place on 15 July.
Ireland has been centrally involved in the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution which was founded at UN High Level Week last year and has met several times since then.
Across all its bilateral and multilateral engagement, Ireland has consistently underlined the need for all parties to comply with international law, including international humanitarian law.
Ireland is a steadfast supporter of the International Criminal Court, as well as the principles and values enshrined in the Rome Statute.
Ireland has filed a Declaration of Intervention at the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention on 6 January; and in The Gambia’s case against Myanmar on 20 December 2024.
On 28 February of this year, Ireland also filed a detailed written submission with the ICJ in advisory proceedings concerning the obligations of Israel in relation to the UN and other international organisations, as well as states, in the occupied Palestinian territory.
My overarching priority is to contribute to a coordinated and consolidated effort by the international community as a whole to support the ceasefire and hostage release agreement and the surge of humanitarian access into Gaza it makes possible; to safeguard the two-State solution; to work towards the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza in accordance with UN Security Council 2735 and to uphold the equal right to self-determination, peace, security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
198. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of purchase orders processed by his Department in 2023 that were not included in the published reports of purchase orders over €20,000; the number of purchase orders excluded due to their value falling below the €20,000 threshold, and the total combined value of those purchase orders; and the number of purchase orders excluded because they related to transactions other than for goods or services, for example, grants-in-aid or reimbursements, in line with reporting conventions. [37232/25]
View answerThis Department complies with the requirement to publish all purchase orders exceeding €20,000, as required under the 2011 Public Service Reform Plan. These publications refer to transactions for goods and services only.
In compiling these reports, the following transactions are correctly excluded:
- Items under €20,000
- Items exceeding €20,000 that do not relate to goods and services. These items typically relate Ireland's mandatory international contributions to institutions such as the UN, Council of Europe, OECD, OSCE, the European Peace Facility and other. This category contains programme expenditure for Irish Aid, such as grants, humanitarian assistance, bilateral cooperation, payments to international funds for the benefit of developing countries and contributions to development agencies. In addition, this category contains programme expenditure in advancing Ireland’s foreign policy goals, such as the Emigrant Support Programme, International Fund for Ireland, EU Engagement, the Reconciliation fund and other measures.
For 2023, the number of purchase orders correctly excluded due to their falling below €20,000 was 5,550 (Value: €15.7m)
For 2023, the number of purchase orders, exceeding €20,000, correctly excluded due to their involving transactions other than goods or services is 868 (Value: €785.1m).
199. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total number of people the Government accepts have been killed in the Israel-Gaza conflict to date; the number of these deaths that are civilians; the number that are Hamas militants; the sources of information which Ministers use when quoting these numbers in public statements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37320/25]
View answerAccording to the latest humanitarian situation update by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which was published on 2 July 2025, at least 57,012 Palestinians have been killed and 134,592 Palestinians injured in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 2 July 2025. These figures are provided by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
According to UNICEF, over 15,000 children in Gaza have been killed, over 34,000 injured, and nearly one million children displaced. In a report published on 8 November 2024, the United National Human Rights Office found that close to 70 per cent of Palestinians killed in the conflict were women and children.
The UN reported in June that the fate of over 11,000 people, the majority being women and children, missing since the start of the war “remains unclear due to the absence of accurate official statistics that might determine whether they were killed in airstrikes and remain buried under the rubble, detained, or disappeared under other circumstances.”
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening daily. The entire population is facing high levels of food insecurity. More than 20% face starvation after 20 months of fighting, and almost 80 days of the Israeli blockade on vital, life-saving, humanitarian aid.
Ireland has consistently called on Israel to lift its blockade and allow unimpeded access of humanitarian aid at scale into Gaza, in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.
The immediate focus of the international community must be on bringing hostilities to an immediate end and for all parties to return to talks aimed at immediately agreeing a ceasefire and hostage release deal. All remaining hostages must be released. There needs to be an immediate resumption of humanitarian access into and throughout Gaza, and at scale.
200. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been brought to concerns raised about a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37327/25]
View answerI am aware of the case in question, which the Deputy has recently brought to my notice.
At my instruction, my Department has conveyed to the Iranian authorities our concerns in relation to this case, including in the Oireachtas.
201. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware of the case of a person (details supplied); the assistance his Department is giving to them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37357/25]
View answerI can confirm that officials in my Department and the relevant Irish Embassy are aware of this case and are providing consular assistance.
As with all consular cases, a dedicated consular officer has been assigned to the family and they remain in contact. The consular officer has provided advice and guidance to the family in accordance with the Department’s Consular Assistance Charter.
I can further confirm that officials in the Irish Embassy are continuing to regularly engage with the relevant authorities as part of efforts to assist the citizen.
I wish to assure the Deputy that officials in my Department and the Irish Embassy will continue to provide all possible consular assistance to the citizen.
202. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the next of kin which is listed on the back of a passport can be changed if the named next of kin has passed away; the current process to change this is to renew a valid passport; if an alternative option will be considered; where the name of the next of kin could be updated without renewal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37390/25]
View answerThe only way to obtain a new passport book with a blank emergency contact page, is to apply for renewal. However, it is open to passport holders who wish to change the emergency contact entered on the back page of their passport to simply cross out the previous next of kin contact details and enter in the new details.
Applicants with any queries can contact the Customer Service Hub for assistance at +353 1 671 1633, or via the WebChat service: www.ireland.ie/contactpassportservice/
Agents are available from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
203. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the complex passport application that has been raised directly with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (details supplied); the actions he will take to ensure this issue is resolved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37398/25]
View answer204. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of German military aircraft that have been allowed to use Shannon Airport for training, or other purposes, since 7 October 2023; if he has any concerns given Germany's provision of weapons to Israel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37599/25]
View answerUnder the terms of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order, 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly, or land in, the State require diplomatic clearance from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Diplomatic clearance is subject to strict conditions, including that the aircraft is unarmed; that it carries no arms, ammunition or explosives; that it does not engage in intelligence gathering; and that the flight in question does not form part of a military exercise or operation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is committed to the highest standards of transparency on this issue, and publishes monthly statistics in relation to overflights and landings of foreign military and state aircraft on the gov.ie website. Details of the number of German military aircraft which have been granted diplomatic clearance to land in Shannon Airport since October 2023 are available as part of these statistics on the gov.ie website.
Successive governments have made landing facilities available at a number of Irish airports to foreign military and state aircraft for a long period. This permission is subject to the strict conditions of the diplomatic clearance procedures described above.
205. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide an update on a foreign birth register application (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37616/25]
View answerMy Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish Citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship, also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship.
Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate.
FBR Certificates replacement applications are currently processed with a turnaround time of 3 months from receipt of the supporting documents. With regards to the specific FBR Certificate replacement application about which the Deputy has enquired, the replacement certificate has been issued.
206. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is he aware of the tremendous work being carried out by an organisation (details supplied) in New York, which aims to bridge the gap between Irish graduates and job opportunities in the New York tri-state area; if he has received a request from them to assist with the cost of an administrator; his response to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37691/25]
View answerThe "Graduate Gateway" is overseen by the Irish Business Organisation of New York. The IBO has been a recipient of Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) funding for a number of years. In 2024, the IBO was awarded $17,000 in ESP funding, $10,000 of which was allocated to Graduate Gateway-related events.
2025 ESP grant awards are currently under consideration and decisions will be communicated to applicants in the coming weeks.
Details of all organisations funded under the ESP are available on the Department's website: www.dfa.ie
207. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he accepts the findings in the report of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 entitled “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide”, published on 1 July 2025; if he will commit to implementing in full the three recommendations made in the report for member states of the United Nations; if so, the plans he has to do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37696/25]
View answerIreland supports the essential role that UN Special Procedures mandate holders play in the international human rights system. Their work contributes to the development of international human rights standards and helps to raise public awareness on human rights issues.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese presented her most recent report to the Human Rights Council during an Interactive Dialogue that took place on 4 July. The report includes recommendations across a range of policy areas that require detailed consideration.
In our intervention during the Interactive Dialogue, Ireland recalled the need for a return to a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and the immediate and unimpeded resumption of humanitarian access at scale into and throughout Gaza. We also reiterated our concern about developments in the West Bank and restated our view that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal and undermine the viability of the two-State solution.
Our national intervention also noted that, following the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024, the Government is progressing legislation to prohibit import of goods from the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
208. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a passport can be issued for a child (details supplied). [37762/25]
View answerWith regard to the specific application about which the deputy has enquired, this application is within the current turnaround time and has not yet reached its issue by date. Further supporting documents for this application were on received on 19 June 2025. The turnaround time following the receipt of additional supporting documents is 15 working days. This application is therefore within the expected turnaround times.
209. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the legal advice he received in relation to the use of Shannon Airport by United States aircraft carrying deportees to North Africa (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37781/25]
View answerAs the flight in question was undertaken by a civil aircraft, no request for diplomatic clearance was sought or required. As is well known, diplomatic clearance to overfly or land in the State is required from my Department for all military and state aircraft, but not for civil aircraft.
The Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention), and its associated annexes, established the framework for the operation of international civil aviation. Both Ireland and the United States are contracting parties to this Convention. Article 5 of this Convention provides for the right of air operators of contracting parties to operate non-scheduled overflights and stops for non-traffic purposes in the territory of the other contracting parties. As such stops at Irish airports by private and commercial charters which are technical stops for non-traffic purposes (i.e. not picking up or setting down passengers), do not require prior authorisation from the Department of Transport.
