Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Can we have the first slide? In fairness to the Moldovans, we should respect in this presentation the fact that Moldova is an independent state. This is their national emblem and this is their national flag. I thought we should show the flag as the first symbol of Moldova. These are on the screens if anybody wants them.

In respect of the next slide, it is important for us to see where Moldova is vis-à-visthe region. I understand that Moldova was formerly part of Romania and that there would be people in Romania who would try to reunite Moldova with Romania. This does not go down too well with the Moldovan Government but the facts are that they speak essentially the same language. Although it is called Moldovan, it is actually Romanian. Geographically, it is important to know that it is sandwiched between the huge countries of Ukraine and Romania. It is important to be aware of the geographic location of Moldova. Despite the fact that the language is officially known as Moldovan, according to my interpretation, it is actually Romanian. There is a political force in Romania that would argue that Moldova should be reunited with Romania.

I experienced the number of Moldovan shops in Dublin. They are extremely well stocked. The range of goods and the business they do are phenomenal. This indicates that there are more than 3,400 Moldovans living in Ireland because over 100,000 Moldovans got Romanian passports and as members know, Romania has been a full member of the EU for some years.

The next slide shows the ballot paper for the Moldovan election. Members do not have to count them but there are 25 candidates, some of who were independent. I wish to draw members' attention to the one with the blue stamp in it which is ten up from the bottom. Ten up from the bottom represents the cancellation of a political party's presence in the election. There were 25 candidates. In this election, they had to reach a threshold of 6% so these candidates must reach this threshold to survive. The one that was removed is a party called Patria. My understanding is that this party was controlled by a very wealthy Moldovan living and making his money in Russia. About 14 hours before the actual casting of votes, this party was struck off the list by the Supreme Court of Justice of Moldova on the basis of financial irregularities. It was discovered that over €1 million had been flushed into this party's campaign, which broke the electoral laws. The leader of the party subsequently went to Russia. There were suggestions that raids were carried out on the homes of his supporters and that arms, munitions and other subversive tools were discovered. The party was struck off the list. At the time, it was suggested that Patria was polling at about 14% in polls, which would have given it seats in the Parliament. Others suggested that the party was on target to reach as high as 24% so it obviously had a degree of popularity. It is interesting that 14 hours before the casting of votes started, this party was suddenly struck off the list.

Members will notice that some complaints were made about the emblems. The Communist Party uses the hammer and sickle, but a reformed community party also used the hammer and sickle. The major Communist Party fought to have the reform party struck off the list on the grounds that the emblems were the same.

The liberal party had a split and there was some debate on whether the other party could stay on the ticket. During this election, given the geopolitical complexities of the area, complaints were made about regional interference, for example that the Ukrainian president appeared before a Liberal party meeting, ostensibly giving support to the Liberal party of Moldova. Russia, in retaliation because of the many Moldovans who earn a living as illegal workers, decided to allow the illegal Moldovan emigrants to return to Moldova to vote and be allowed the right to return to Russia. One can see the game that was being played by the President of Ukraine and how the Russians retaliated.

We might note that when we start to talk about the votes for our diaspora, that this tiny country, deemed to be one of the most impoverished countries in Europe opened 95 polling stations throughout the world. There were substantial complaints emanating from the Russian Federation that there were insufficient polling stations for the Moldovan workers who were resident in Russia.

The election took place on 30 November 2014, but Moldova still has no government.