Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Murray for his clear presentation and his precise policy recommendations, which I hope the committee will support. I add my voice to those who made the points about visas, particularly in the higher education sector. This is an ongoing issue for universities and third level colleges as they try to attract students and staff from Asian countries. Mr. Martin's point about decentralising the process to embassies on the ground seems eminently sensible and we should try to make progress on it. The delays are often bureaucratic, rather than caused by opposition to the granting of visas, but it creates a perception that it is difficult to come to Ireland and we want to move away from that.

On the human rights issue, I have travelled in Asian countries and I did some work with the British Council on a women's human rights programme in Wuhan in central China some years ago. I was struck by how the engagement of the British Council, as an arm of the British Government, promoted human rights in China and other countries. Is there any way we can do something like that? I am aware that we do not have the same level of resources and the British Council is very well established, but is there a model, perhaps on a smaller scale, that Ireland could adopt to assist us in the promotion of human rights in parallel with our engagement on trade and tourism?