Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Gilmore is very welcome. I thank him for the worthwhile and valuable presentation. It is good to hear the update and presented in such a concise manner. I congratulate him also on his recent appointment, which I was delighted to see, and on the most important work he has done within Colombia on the peace process on behalf of the EU. We are all conscious that this is a highly complex process given the scale of the country and the scale of the issues faced. I was struck by the numbers he quoted to us in terms of 250,000 people killed, and 6 million people displaced. In that context we can clearly only touch on aspects but it is very useful to get an update.

Will Mr. Gilmore develop the topic of the discussion thus far in respect of the challenges to the peace process? Will he speak a little more about some of those challenges? He mentioned the situation in Venezuela, which is clearly having a very destabilising effect. I spoke recently to friends who have just come back from Colombia and who said the situation in Venezuela is very visibly impacting the economy and society in Colombia. Clearly, the numbers of refugees coming into Colombia from Venezuela is a huge issue. How does Mr. Gilmore see this working out? There does not seem to be any sign of improvement there. That is my first point.

My second point relates to the issues Deputies Niall Collins and Maureen O’Sullivan touched on, that is, the growth in the coca crop. The first thing I had wondered when reading about this is where the proceeds are going. This was always an issue when it came to support of the FARC but, presumably, the proceeds are now going into organised crime more specifically and less into paramilitary activity. Perhaps Mr. Gilmore could develop this point. I am interested to hear his comments about demand. I absolutely agree with him that this issue cannot be tackled within the borders of Colombia alone. That is true of all issues surrounding drugs. How does one go about tackling demand? Clearly, there have been huge changes in drugs policy in North America, particularly in respect of cannabis. Is something similar required on coca and cocaine? Is that where we might see some resolution of this issue? Allied to that, Mr. Gilmore’s presentation referred very strongly to the work of the EU and of the UN, but where is the US in all this not only as the biggest market for illegal coca, the product of the trade, but also as a huge player in the region? What impact does Trump and Trump’s policy have on the peace process? Can Mr. Gilmore say anything about this? He mentioned another challenge being the lack of a ceasefire from the ELN and the recent dreadful bomb in January of this year. Is there any hope for progress on this?

I refer to the more general context and the political buy-in for the peace process. Clearly, as Mr. Gilmore said, there is a more polarised political environment, which itself presents a challenge. Where is the big political sticking point in Colombia? Again, this is hard to see from the outside. Is it because, as Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan said, the treatment of victims has been a strength of the process? From reading about the process, I understand there are very robust institutions that are built into the agreement. What is the big political objection? I know that Deputy O’Sullivan has highlighted some of the issues that have been raised, but given that the EU and the UN have been so strongly adhering to the process, and given the amount of buy-in there has been from the outside, what is the sticking point internally and how is it best addressed?

I imagine it is hard for Mr. Gilmore to see beyond what he has been doing in Colombia, but can he say what the priorities of his new role are? This is perhaps a little beyond our scope today but, as a foreign affairs committee, we will presumably be looking forward to engaging with Mr. Gilmore in his new EU role. Can he say at this point what he sees as the key priorities in such a difficult political environment within the EU currently?