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

I do not wish to divide the House on the issue because it is sensitive. We do not know the conclusion the court will reach. We believe the court will make a decision shortly. That is the information that has been made available. In those circumstances, we are better off waiting to see what will happen next. There may be a need for an intervention, which would be unprecedented, but we do not know. If matters proceed satisfactorily, my belief is that we should proceed with the least fuss because there is always a danger of the Egyptian court deciding to take issue with the interference by a foreign government at the highest level, which may be seen as an intrusion in its internal affairs. It is very important at this stage that we do not aggravate the Egyptian authorities. Our job is to be insistent, persistent and persuasive in the way we go about what we have to do. We must remember also that diplomatic procedures that apply in all such exchanges must apply in this situation as well. I do not know what will be the outcome. No one in this room knows what the outcome will be of the court procedure. They may decide at the next hearing that there is nothing they need to do as there are no charges to be answered. We do not know. They may decide otherwise, but I am not aware of any situation whereby we can demand a prisoner held on whatever grounds to be released.

I dealt with the Birmingham Six, the Guildford Four and all the people from this country who were imprisoned in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. I attended the court hearings with a former Member of the House and Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews, and Members from all sides, and we were conscious of the fact that we could not interfere with the courts and we could not be seen to be influencing the courts. In one of those cases the prisoners were found guilty by the courts. There were subsequent hearings and they were released and deported in some cases. The courts had made their decision and that was the best that could be done. No one could waive the charges, and the charges were not waived, but there were alleged miscarriages of justice.

We are dealing here with more distant and less familiar circumstances. If the committee wishes to adjourn the discussion pending the court decision, I have no problem with that. I believe we should leave the options open to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and allow him continue the work he is doing. I have no difficulty with Deputy Brendan Smith's suggestion of writing to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs reiterating the concerns of the committee and the need to ensure that an Irish citizen abroad is being treated properly and that in the event of the situation developing in a way we do not want, we have a different procedure to go through.