Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late, but bilocation is not one of my achievements.

I welcome the delegation for this timely discussion. I strongly agree with the points raised. Iran has an opportunity to come out of darkness and into the light. That is important both for the people of Iran and its administration. I agree that there should be no trade-off on human rights. In assessing a country's merits we should also consider how it deals with minorities. I support the notion of writing a letter to the authorities, but an international element is also needed in that the United Nations and the EU High Commissioner should have access to prisons to see how prisoners are treated. The people of Iran are very nice. It has been many years since I visited the country, but it has a great heritage and tradition of hospitality. It is a big country with a sizeable population. It could play a beneficial role in international affairs, but that has not yet happened, to the detriment of the people of Iran, more than anybody else.

I welcome the points the delegates made and it is important we support what they said. We cannot have a little regard for human rights; either we have regard for them or we do not.

That is the opportunity the new regime has.

I noticed that the President made a presentation at the United Nations recently. I agree fully with the sentiments he expressed. Having Iran in isolation is not good for peace in that region; therefore, we should be looking at encouraging it and its administration to come forward with proposals to address the issues of concern to the global community. Without this, there will be no evolution. The point made on the previous moderate regime was well made. In ten or 20 years time we could find ourselves talking about the same issues such as prisoners who have been imprisoned for little or no reason and prisoners of conscience. I emphasise the need to write to the United Nations and the European authorities in order to mobilise public opinion in this regard. I also stress the importance from an Iranian perspective and the benefits for the Iranian people of ensuring they recognise and observe international norms on human rights. One cannot have it both ways. We cannot have prisoners of conscience where people who protest peacefully on the streets suddenly become prisoners for the rest of their lives for no reason. I strongly support the points raised by the delegation. If there is anything further we can do at this level, we should do it.