Mr. David Cooney:

The Tánaiste has made clear his views on that law. The Department condemns it because it is not helpful and will act to the detriment of Uganda in attracting foreign investment. International companies will not find it easy to attract workers to Uganda, in particular, workers who are gay. It is a very bad move from the point of view of Uganda. However, we are not in Uganda to assist the parliament or the President but to assist some of the poorest people on the planet. Last July I visited Karamoja where the society is not dissimilar to that in Ireland at the time of the settlement of Ulster. It is a society of nomadic cattle owners who are making the transition to being a more settled society. Whatever about the actions of the Ugandan Government, we do not believe it would be appropriate to cut off our assistance which is going directly to the people mentioned.

On how to deal with the Ugandan anti-gay law, it is a question of education. It is worth recalling that when Albert Reynolds left the Edinburgh meeting of the European Council in December 1992 to announce that Ireland would receive €8 billion from the European Union, same-sex sexual acts were still criminal offences in Ireland.