Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I extend a warm welcome to Mr. Gilmore. We have been friends for years and know each other for quite a while. It is nearly an embarrassingly long time but it still has been a good experience. I have always admired his work in public life and it is great to have him with us.

I have read the submission he made. However, I am at a slight disadvantage as I have not heard him or heard what he might have said additionally as I had to conduct a vote in the Seanad. I was struck by the report compiled by the Kroc Institute in the University of Notre Dame, which shows that there was 30% after five years, which is a pretty low percentage for final completion of the stipulations in the agreement. There is also only 37% initiated and 15% have yet to be initiated. Those statistics are not overly encouraging. Having said that, they are a great contrast to the horrible statistic related to the war previously, as described by Mr. Gilmore.

I want to hone in on three things that he referenced as EU concerns and, obviously, as his own concerns. There is the question of the killing of human rights defenders, social leaders, trade unionists, etc. That is an atrocity and that is wrong. In any situation inflicting state violence on people is never an acceptable modus vivendi. Can Mr. Gilmore point out a strategy? Has he detected a willingness to move on the part of the Colombian Government? Does he have a level of hope about the situation? Can he recommend anything? Bearing in mind that I may have missed what he said earlier, can he make suggestions that might assist people to move on? I mean both within the UN, the EU, etc. The situation is depressing. If there is anything that we can do to improve things then we should do it. Violence is to be condemned in every scenario.

I am interested in the third aspect, which is illegal drugs. Mr. Gilmore correctly said that crime is very interlinked with the illegal drugs trade. There is a big requirement to substitute that with normal commerce and agriculture. Surely the international community would have a particular interest, and from the perspective of self-interest, to deal with the issue. Is there more potential for the international community to get involved in trying to eliminate the problem, which in itself is a problem for the world and is a problem within Colombia as it gives rise to violence?

The next issue that Mr. Gilmore outlined concerned the pandemic. It would be interesting for us to be aware of the vaccination rates in Colombia and how Covid had impacted on Colombian society.

One assumes that in a society with such fragility, coming out of a shocking war and grappling with a new peace, the impact of the pandemic has to have been particularly awful. How much of a setback has it been? I know that Mr. Gilmore has been hands-on there too.

I ask Mr. Gilmore to elaborate on those issues. I salute his great work. I join with Deputy Brady in expressing our outright horror at any State engendered violence, illicit murders of people within the country or even the turning of a blind eye to drug crime. I know that will be a unanimous view among members. State perpetrated crime is a shocking deterrent to any kind of normal society. I thank Mr. Gilmore again. It is great to have him with us. He does great work.