Senator David Norris:

I am pleased to welcome the Tánaiste and to congratulate him on a number of successes, including the hunger, nutrition and climate justice conference. I have a question on that. I was not able to attend the conference - I was abroad - but I am very interested in it. Was the issue of population raised at the conference, because it underlies everything? People are notoriously shy about raising it, partly because religious leaders of various kinds seem to want to assert the dominant right to breed more members for their various creeds. The world population is the single most dramatic change in my lifetime, and it underlies all these issues. When I was in Trinity it was 3 billion. By the time I will have croaked it, it will probably be 9 billion. That is a threefold increase in one short human lifetime. The planet cannot sustain it. It is no wonder there are water shortages, tensions over other resources and so on. Regardless of what way people massage the issue, the planet cannot support that number of people.

I am delighted when I hear of a decline in the population in Europe and North America, the advanced countries, because we are the ones that do the most damage and are the most greedy for resources. That is not an anti-sub-Saharan Africa position; it is much better when the numbers go down. Was there any prominent mention of that, because the UN global population report never once in my experience ever mentioned that? Female genital mutilation, the education of local tribal people and civilians caught up in conflict are very important issues, but they do not mention population, and it is so important.

Deputy Crowe has reminded me about the situation in Syria where there are more than 1 million refugees. The report to us speaks passionately about that. Apparently, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, has replied to a parliamentary question submitted by Deputy Crowe to the effect that we will resettle 30 Syrian refugees in Ireland in 2013. Are the witnesses aware of the progress that has been made in that matter?

Coming from the climate conference it is a great tribute to the former President, Mary Robinson, that she has been appointed to this significant position with regard to the Great Lakes region, including the Congo in particular. Can the Tánaiste give any indication as to the degree of support we will be able to give her there, because it is very important? This committee, and the Seanad, have passed resolutions on violence, particularly sexual violence, in areas like the Congo.

I am glad the issue of Uganda was raised. It was an impressive report from a young woman who has been threatened. She was a friend of David Kato of Front Line Defenders who some of us met in Dublin Castle. He was subsequently murdered at the instigation of the media and the Christian churches in that country. I know there is a problem in Britain at the moment, which was referred to by Deputy Crowe also, but I remember dealing with a number of cases, for example, where under the former Administration, not the Tánaiste's Government, people were sent back to Iran by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal on the basis that they could hide their sexuality. People were returned to Iraq and Nigeria or other such countries on the basis that if they chose the right part of the country, they could survive reasonably well. I would hate to think this would happen here. Are there any such cases? What is the status here and what would be the Government's attitude, because it is crystal clear that people are being murdered in Uganda as a result of their sexual orientation? I commend the Tánaiste on the brave work he has done in this area and I encourage him to continue it.

There might be a possibility, since the Papal Nuncio is the doyen of the parliamentary-----