Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the really comprehensive report. I have seen the film. We must go further than showing what is going on, although I know some steps have already been outlined. I have some comments relating not just to Congo but other countries in Africa as well, and this comes from me chairing the Irish section of the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa, AWEPA.

There is a real irony that resource-rich countries perform more poorly than resource-poor countries; this is the "paradox of plenty". I read recently that a company in Congo, Sodimico, sold 30% of its mining stakes via direct negotiation at €30 million. London securities firms valued this at €1.6 billion. There is no doubt that Congo is resource-rich but, as with other African countries, those resources are not being returned to the people. The EU accounting and transparency directives for extractive industries are key and I hope the Irish Government will strongly support them. There should be a strong binding of the directives.

We know that Africa could solve all our problems if its mineral resources were handled in an ethical and efficient way. Allied with that there must be country-by-country and project-by-project reporting and if that does not happen we can whistle "Dixie" and there will be no change in Africa.

We met a delegation of ministers from the Congo recently and I came out of that meeting feeling positive. I heard from them what was happening in the country. They acknowledged the difficulties but there was a belief that things were moving yet now we come here and there is again this disconnect that bears no reality to what is happening on the ground. There is no question, as I said that day, that the Congo shows one of the worst excesses of imperialism. It is just the carving up of Africa for the benefit of Europeans. My point is about the resources.