Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for coming in and out of the meeting, but there is another meeting taking place with a delegation from the western Sahara. Having left that meeting early, I have also insulted it.

I would like to focus on NAP provision and apologise if this issue has been addressed. It is 11 months since the Government launched its national action plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325. In the delegates' view, should the monitoring group be up and running by now, with full implementation of the plan under way? I understand the civil organisations involved in the UN Security Council resolution have proposed an alternative independent chairperson of the monitoring group, given the resignation of Inez McCormack owing to ill-health. Perhaps Mr. Clarken might indicate if there has been a response from the Tánaiste's office to that proposal?

Earlier this week some of us attended the launch of an RTE film on the Congo from which we learned that to date 4.5 million people had been killed and of the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war and a means of breaking people in that part of the world. The situation does not appear to be on anyone's agenda. While we are all aware of what is happening in Syria and other parts of the world, the scale of what is happening in the Congo region, in terms of the number of people killed, has been almost forgotten. Previously Roger Casement shone light on what was happening in the region, including people having their arms cut off and so on. This is still going on, despite the fact that there is a huge UN presence in the region. There have been stories told of enormous numbers of rapes being carried out about 20 km from the main UN camp. While standing up for human rights is important, it is equally important that we do not stand idly by while this continues.

On the last occasion the Tánaiste met the committee he told us about the establishment of a new group on Saudi Arabia. We are all aware of the role of women in society there. I have previously tried to get information on whether women are involved in the new business council. It is important to ensure a gender balance in these groups, in particular in those parts of the world where women are forced to take a step back. How important is it for countries in the West which have their own views on the issues of gender balance and the involvement of women in society to take a lead in this regard?