Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 February 2013
13. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there has been informal or formal discussions with the new Libyan Government about its transition to democracy and formalising diplomatic relations. [8855/13]
View answerIreland is actively seeking to strengthen its bilateral relations with the new Libyan Government led by Prime Minister Zidan. Ireland is ready to provide any assistance possible to the new administration, the first democratically elected Government to take office in Libya. We would like to increase levels of bilateral cooperation across a range of areas, including in the economic and trade area. Considerable assistance is already being offered to Libya in relation to the medical treatment of patients injured in the 2011 conflict; a very successful programme has been in operation now for over a year.
I had a productive meeting with the Foreign Minister of Libya, Aaahour Bin Khayal, at the UN General Assembly in September 2012. During the meeting, I congratulated Libya on the conduct of a successful election campaign and its transition to democracy. I commended the Libyan Government on the stance they had taken following the appalling attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi. I also stated that we looked forward to further strengthening relations between Ireland and Libya, particularly trade relations.
More recently, my colleague, the Minister of State for Trade and Development, Mr Joe Costello, T.D., met with the Libyan Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Al Siddique Abdul Karim, on the margins of the UN pledging conference for Syria, which was held in Kuwait on 30 January. The Deputy Prime Minister confirmed Libya’s strong interest in developing bilateral relations and in an exchange of political-level visits in order to take forward cooperation in a number of areas.
Ireland’s Ambassador to Libya, who is accredited from Rome, visits Libya regularly, most recently in December 2012. During that visit he met with a number of Libyan Government representatives, including the Minister for Health and deputy Ministers for Higher Education and Agriculture.
In the longer term, Ireland would welcome the opening of a Libyan Embassy in Dublin, and this has been conveyed to the new Libyan administration. In the meantime, the Libyan Embassy in London continues to represent Libya’s interests in Ireland and we are looking forward to a new Ambassador being formally accredited from there shortly.
