Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Gilmore mentioned civil society. My question is about his experience of civil society within Colombia, particularly the civil society of the indigenous communities. Does he have much engagement with them? It was good to hear what he said about learning from the Colombian peace agreement in terms of legacy matters and Northern Ireland.

Mr. Gilmore mentioned illegal mining, but we know there is legal mining going on and that it is creating problems not only because of displacement, but also particularly regarding workers’ rights, wages and conditions, etc. I think there is a fear that this is getting lost because the big picture is the peace agreement, yet this is going on within Colombia at the same time. We have only recently got our own business and human rights policy here, with a committee set up under a chairperson.

It is something that I had been pursuing for a while and looking at trade agreements. There is an example in more recent ones about binding conditions for workers. Would that come into Mr. Gilmore's new role? I know there is the possibility of a binding treaty that the UN is working on. We talk about human rights, but within that there also have to be workers’ rights. It is part of the human rights picture. I do not know that it should be separate.

My last question is about extradition. Mr. Santrich is in jail a year in April. I understand also that he is blind. I was reading a speech that President Duque made about extradition, and it certainly was alarming in terms of a request for extradition being received and us not really going into the details of it. There is the possibility of abuse within that system.