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

I find this a very difficult and sad issue. There is a huge amount of human capital involved and there are huge emotions. There is also danger and a fear on the part of the family that the Egyptian authorities will make the ultimate decision which would affect the life of their brother and son.

I do not like the way this issue is unfolding. We must remember the context. Three members of the Halawa family were arrested but while, thankfully, the two sisters were released on bail, the brother, tragically, remains in jail, where he has been for two years, having gone in at the age of 17.

The question for me, as a politician, is how best we can act in the interests of an Irish citizen in an Egyptian jail. Egypt is not a liberal democracy like Britain or Ireland. It has a very different judicial system and a very different political system. We have seen the tragedy of some cases decided by the courts in Egypt, including a mass decision to have some prisoners executed. We are dealing with an extremely sensitive and delicate issue and it is not one with which we should play politics. It is worrying that a parliamentarian or public representative, who should have sensitivity and should want to assist in the ultimate release of a prisoner whom the Egyptians claim to be a criminal case, would allege torture in this case, because that has been contradicted by our ambassador and the allegation could provoke a negative reaction on the part of the Egyptians.

We are in public session and we held a debate on the subject in the Dáil yesterday. We must ask ourselves in what way we believe the welfare of this prisoner will be protected. I have absolute confidence in the Minister and in our ambassador, with whom I have spoken specifically on this case. I beg those engaged in the campaign for his release to trust the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Minister. If the Taoiseach decides at the appropriate time to intervene, they should trust him to do so as well.