Ms Caoimhe de Barra:

We have to recognise that it is a very fractured political context and a fragmented society. There are dozens of Government ministries. It is difficult to co-ordinate in a context where the ministries can barely function and support their own needs. For example, when Trócaire and local NGO partners went to discuss the gender parity law, the ministry for gender was so short of resources that it was barely able to do work it is mandated to do. That is common across many of the ministries. However, it is important to recognise that no government is homogenous, there is a will to reform and make progress among elements of government. Much of the political analysis is about identifying the arms of government with which we can work.

Deputy O'Sullivan opened up the discussion by talking about mining companies and mineral resources. She mentioned initiatives such as the European initiative, which it is important for Ireland to support. There are other initiatives such as the listing of companies on the New York stock exchange. To be listed one needs to be transparent in respect of the payments one makes. Sometimes it is difficult to identify the companies that work in context such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. For example, a contract was recently taken over by a company which appears to be based out of South Africa for all exploration in Lake Albert and nobody can get access to the MOU between the Government and that company. We work with local communities who are monitoring the impact on their environment of that company's work but it is incredibly difficult to have accountability without access to information. Working on access to information at a macro level would be supportive to people at community level in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.