Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I intend to be brief in view of what the Chair has just outlined. I thank the Minister for coming in. I echo the sentiments regarding our UN mission. It has been fantastic. I commend everybody involved. Will the Minister explain the Government's position on the decision in respect of Georgia's candidacy for accession to the EU? I am concerned that the decision not to grant candidacy status to Georgia as opposed to Moldova and the expedited process for Ukraine leaves Georgia somewhat isolated. The ramifications of that may be to push it closer to a particular path. Nobody wants to see that, in particular the Georgian people who were out on 20 June protesting and campaigning for their country to become a member state of the EU. What is our position? Georgia needs a friend. The Government is in a position to be that friend.

My second question relates to energy security. We are rightly no longer purchasing coal from Russia. We purchased very little coal from Russia previously. However, we are now purchasing coal from Cerrejón mine in Columbia as are our European partners. Has there been - and there should be - a human rights assessment in respect of those orders? We need to take a role there. I visited that mine. It has a military basis. There are people there who talk about being displaced, communities that talk about family members who disappeared and human rights defenders and indigenous peoples defenders who talk about living in fear as a consequence of the violence associated with the mine. I accept that times are incredibly difficult in terms of our energy security and supply. What role do we see for ourselves in ensuring that our further engagement in purchasing coal from that mine does not result in people experiencing further violence?

What is our position in regard to the situation in Western Sahara? There was a scenario recently whereby a human rights observer was denied access to Morocco. We should condemn that. As our role on the UN Security Council comes to an end, we need to ensure that there is a human rights observation position added. Hopefully, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, MINURSO, can increase its presence. If it cannot do that, it can certainly increase its level of observation.