Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I missed part of the presentation as I was delayed by several other meetings and votes in the Dáil. From what I heard, the delegation painted a grim picture of the human rights and labour rights positions in Colombia. This committee would not have dealt with the free trade agreement between the European Union and Colombia as it would have been before the enterprise and innovation committee. I presume the delegation has spoken to our colleagues on that committee too.

When this committee met with groups during the negotiations of the EU-US trade agreement, there was a consensus there should be no dumbing down of rights to reach an agreement. I believe we should always start off from that particular base. Europe is an important source of trade to Colombia, with the EU its second largest export market after the United States and a significant source of substantial foreign direct investment. Accordingly, Europe should have much clout when forging a deal.

Under no circumstances should Europe be party to a deal where people are denied basic human and labour rights. The agreement was signed in 2012. Was the European trade union movement active in lobbying the European Parliament in this regard? How receptive was the European Parliament to the views put forward by the European trade union movement?

Fianna Fáil believes we should not have trade agreements with any country where basic civil and labour rights are denied to people. The loss of life under the regime in Colombia, from what the delegation has outlined, is intolerable.