Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I must admit that I am not fully au faitwith Colombia. It is important to be honest and say that. Work has to be done to inform people more widely about the situation if we are interested in trying to find a resolution. I am interested in assisting in that and I am delighted to welcome our guests. This is a first. I have been a Member of this Parliament since 1981, which is a long time, and it is the first occasion on which I have heard any type of debate or discussion at this level about Colombia. A country like Ireland, which developed from being under the fist of the British for so long and then established its independence and so forth, has, on the basis of its experience, a great deal to give to a country such as Colombia. I accept the point that has been made. At parliamentary level, it is vital that we get together somehow as elected politicians - whether it is us going to Colombia or representatives from Colombia coming here is not the important part - and listen to people like our guests in order to inform ourselves. Creating awareness of a situation such as this is very important.

I would be pleased to welcome a delegation here because more is learned by bringing people to a place where they can see how we have developed, as distinct from us going there. I am not saying that we should not go. However, the first thing that should be done is to try and get people to come here to talk about where we have come from and the difficulties we had. There is no doubt that we had many difficulties on the road to getting to where we are today. We have been fortunate that we were brought along with the European Union. We became part of a bigger enterprise, as it were. In addition, Irish people have traditionally travelled abroad a great deal and have gained much experience. I strongly believe we have something to offer to a country such as Colombia and I recommend that, whether it is an invitation from this committee or otherwise, we invite a delegation to discuss its future development and to learn from us. I am not being big-headed about this but I believe we have much to offer in terms of a developing modern democracy in Ireland. I would welcome a delegation if that was possible.

Eamon Gilmore is my former constituency colleague and I am delighted that he is taking such an interest. He has a great deal to offer and I hope we will support his efforts in every way we can. However, it is vital that members of this committee are informed regularly and that we are not afraid to give an opinion, without being dictatorial. I would very much welcome a delegation to this country so we could discuss the problems, as we are doing now. Perhaps there could be a prearranged agenda so there will be some structure to the meeting. We could assist in the development of what is happening because of our experience, and I believe we should share that.