Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade

Foreign Affairs Council: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

2:30 pm

Photo of Mark DalyMark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late due to a few votes having been called in the Seanad. It is amazing that we are approaching the anniversary of the appearance of the late Mr. Justice Barron in December 2003 before an Oireachtas committee on the issue of his report on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and yet the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is still considering whether to release those files 12 years on from that. Even today the High Court in London is examining a case concerning an incident that happened in 1954 in regard to the Scots Guards and the killing of 24 people in Malaysia. That shows how their system works. They wait until everybody is dead or gone and then they might issue an apology which is meaningless because there is no urgency and they do not want to release the files. We should remember that this was the biggest mass murder in the history of the State. If I were accused of it or being involved in it, I would release all the files and say we had nothing to hide, but obviously they have plenty to hide. If they wanted justice, they would assist us. I know the Minister has responded to that question but I ask that the latest correspondence to the Minister's counterpart or to the Prime Minister seeking that file would be circulated to the committee. We have had motions on this atrocity but I do not believe they understand they are being accused of being complicit, by silence or otherwise, in that atrocity.

On the issue of refugees, the Minister referred to screening. We are not suffering from the hysteria the rest of Europe is suffering from following the Paris attacks. We much remember that similar to the 9-11 atrocities in New York, of the 19 attackers, 15 were from Saudi Arabia, one was from Lebanon, two were from the United Arab Emigrates but none was from Afghanistan, yet it was the country that was attacked. Osama bin Laden was from Saudi Arabia. More than a decade later we have had the Paris attacks but none of those involved was from Syria. There were all Belgian or French citizens. It is the idea we need to attack, not the territory. A point that was raised by others is that Saudi Arabia is doing nothing that we can see but it is doing plenty we cannot see. Its people are the perpetrators of this idea, whether officially or unofficially. Has any of the Minister's colleagues on the EU Foreign Affairs Council challenged Saudi Arabia on the issue of what it is doing for the refugees who are on its borders and doorstep? hey are on our borders or doorstep.

On a more practical housekeeping issue, a report from the Ireland Australia Chamber of Commerce on consular representation was circulated to the members of the committee.

We have excellent consular representation in jurisdictions like Canada, where we have six consulates, in Winnipeg, Halifax, Edmonton, Montreal, Newfoundland and Vancouver, as well as our embassy in Ottawa. However, in Australia we just have Perth and Sydney. Before he leaves office, could the Minister look at the idea of having honorary consulates in Melbourne and other cities, such as Adelaide and Brisbane? There are huge Irish communities there, but in the case of Adelaide, because the ambassador covers not only Australia but also New Zealand, Samoa and other parts of the Pacific, he could not get there for three years. If we had an honorary consulate, it would be representation for Ireland there.

My colleagues have brought up the case of Ibrahim Halawa. I am sure the Minister has the document that came from Doughty Street Chambers giving their opinion of the similarities between him and Peter Greste, the Australian citizen. The Australian foreign Minister acknowledged, on the day that retrial was ordered for Peter Greste, he is now back in the position of an accused person awaiting trial, yet we persist in saying that we cannot do anything until Ibrahim has finished his trial. I will circulate it to the Department and to the Minister, but the family has called for the Taoiseach to get involved and has said the Government can do more. It is their legal opinion that Law 140 clearly allows for the transfer to Ireland of Mr. Halawa prior to a final judgment being given in his case. That is from Doughty Street Chambers, which represents people who have suffered human rights abuses all over the world. I ask, as my colleagues have asked, that his case would be on the agenda for the European Council of Ministers in December, which has not been finalised. His case is important because he is the only one of our citizens abroad who is facing the death penalty.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.