Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
102. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the key policy achievements realised and new initiatives taken by his Department during 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54787/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraOver the past year, my Department has achieved much progress in a number of policy areas and undertaken a number of new initiatives, framed by our commitments under the Programme for Government, and the Departmental Statement of Strategy.
Delivery of services to Irish citizens remains central to our work. Irish citizens abroad continued to receive excellent consular support, including in the context of the crises mentioned above. The Passport Service is again on track to issue close to 1 million passports this year, in line with record numbers recorded last year. This significant achievement was made possible by meeting demand delayed by the pandemic with technological and organisational innovation, and above all the hard work of the staff in all our passport offices. The Passport Service has rolled out Passport Online for first time applicants to an additional 170 countries in 2023. This means that Passport Online can now be used by 99.9% of all passport applicants worldwide. In addition, a number of online enhancements such as a bespoke list of documents for first time applicants, digital access to birth certificates from the General Register Office (GRO), and an Eircode look up facility have all improved our service to our customers.
Progress in our foreign policy has been achieved against the backdrop of an increasingly unstable and complex geopolitical context, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the crisis in Sudan, and now the conflict in the Middle East, imposing significant demands on my Department and its staff in Ireland and around the world.
In this context, we have continued to stand with Ukraine, providing over €185 million in humanitarian and stabilisation support to Ukraine, consistently supporting the strongest sanctions against Russia, and engaging with international partners to ensure accountability for any crimes committed in Ukraine.
In more recent weeks the work of the Department has been dominated by the unfolding conflict in the Middle East and in particular efforts to ensure the safe exit from Gaza of all Irish citizens who wished to leave, and their accompanying dependants and working to secure the release of Emily Hand, who was held hostage by Hamas. In addition, throughout the crisis I have unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism. I have also made consistently clear that the protection of civilians must be paramount. The loss of life in the conflict in Gaza has been horrendous. Thousands of civilians, including children, have been killed. That is why I have consistently called for a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and reiterated the need to adhere to International Humanitarian Law. The conflict must end.
Peace and reconciliation on our island has been, and continues to be, a central priority for my Department. In this context, agreement of the Windsor Framework in February was a key milestone, and as a committed Member State of the European Union, Ireland is fully engaged with our EU partners as we work to make sure that the Framework is implemented fully and in good faith. This year also saw the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and we marked this significant milestone both at home and abroad.
Deepening our EU relationships and our influence at EU level has also been a central focus over the last twelve months, including in respect of communicating and promoting Europe to Irish citizens. The Programme for Government made a particular commitment to an initiative marking 50 years of Irish membership of the EU and I was delighted through 2022 and 2023 to lead on a “EU50” programme of national and international engagement marking this historic anniversary.
At UN level, my Department has built on the legacy of Ireland’s two-year term on the UN Security Council and continued to show leadership at UN level – notably Ireland served as co-facilitator of negotiations and secured agreement on the Political Declaration for the Sustainable Development Goals Summit in September of this year. Moreover, in 2023, the Government allocated €716.5 million for the International Cooperation vote. This is the largest ever allocation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and, coupled with ODA eligible contributions across a number of other government departments, provide a tangible of expression of our commitment and leadership in this sphere. €60 million additional funding provided for 2024 includes €30 million for international climate finance and €30 million for an ambitious and targeted response to humanitarian crises, prolonged acute food and nutrition insecurity and the impact of the war in Ukraine.
2023 saw a continued deepening of the global food security and energy crisis with 345 million people forecast to face acute food insecurity by year end. My department worked closely with Áras an Uachtaráin in support of President Higgins' important addresses to the Africa Food summit in January in Dakar and the World Food Forum in Rome in October. During the year my department worked in support of both humanitarian food assistance and longer term transformation of food systems through the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake meeting and other global initiatives. In 2023 my department will spend at least €284 million on food, agriculture and nutrition.
This year we also witnessed the adoption of the UN Agreement on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), a historic global oceans treaty that has the potential to significantly enhance the protection of the marine environment. My Department played an active and constructive role in the negotiations leading to the Agreement.
In partnership with the Department of Defence, my Department played a key role convening the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy to start a discussion on Ireland’s foreign and security policy. The Forum focused on a wide range of issues, including Ireland’s efforts to protect the rules-based international order through peacekeeping and crisis management, disarmament and non-proliferation, international humanitarian law, and conflict prevention and peacebuilding as well as allowing for a discussion on Ireland’s policy of military neutrality.
My Department also hosted the Global Irish Civic Forum in 2023, a gathering of Irish community representatives from across the world. The forum discussed support for communities abroad, promotion of Irish cultural heritage and sport, network building, reaching the next generations of the diaspora, and much more, and highlighted the critical importance of continued Government support for Ireland’s diaspora and representative organisations. The Emigrant Support Programme was established in 2004 and by the end of 2023, will have disbursed over €17 million, bringing to €237 million the total provided to over 840 organisations supporting the Irish community abroad.
My Department has also continued to deliver on the Global Ireland initiative; deepening our international engagement is critical to making these achievements possible. Our mission network has expanded to 99, with plans to open new missions in Munich, Milan and Islamabad in the period ahead.
Finally, in June of this year, further to my appointment in December last year, I was pleased to launch a new Departmental Statement of Strategy. This Statement provides an essential framework to guide the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the period ahead. It recognises the changed and challenging global context in which we are now operating, and makes clear that strong coordination across Government at home, and with our key allies abroad, remains key to developing sustainable and lasting responses to the many and complex challenges that Ireland is facing.
