Mr. John Devitt:

To draw a comparison, what Transparency International Hungary and other civil society organisations face is a state audit which is commissioned by the Prime Minister. It is a little like the Taoiseach deciding to order an audit of Amnesty International or Transparency International in Ireland. The relevant organisations in Hungary do not have recourse to a judicial review and the audits can result in their having their tax numbers removed. If an audit makes findings that the tax authorities or the government believe justify this step, it will result in the organisation in question being shut down on the basis that it could no longer trade. The organisations that have been subject to this audit appear on a government blacklist that was leaked over the summer. They are all entities that have been embarrassing the government and, in its eyes, making trouble for it and include Transparency International, gay and lesbian rights groups, women's groups and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union.

There are some parallels between what is taking place in Hungary and developments in Russia. The Russian Government has stopped overseas funding to human rights organisations and organisations that continue to receive foreign funding must declare themselves as foreign agents. This has negative connotations in Russia as it is tantamount to declaring oneself a spy. In Hungary we are seeing a parallel move by the government which is effectively branding civil society organisations enemies of the state. All of the evidence we have seen thus far leads us to the conclusion that a crackdown on civil society organisations is under way, one which is contrary to the fundamental values of the European Union, the letter of the fundamental law and constitution of Hungary and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Irish Government should address this issue. We are aware that the ambassador of Hungary will address the joint committee on Thursday and I am sure members will put to him some of the questions arising from this discussion.