Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Durkan made the point that he spoke to the Taoiseach about this matter, and that is welcome. Could we not send a letter to the Taoiseach on the basis that we had another discussion at this meeting on the desperate situation in which Ibrahim finds himself and the obvious concerns of his family and the wider community in Ireland; that we had another detailed report from the Minister for Foreign Affairs and had the opportunity, through a briefing from his officials, to recognise the ongoing work at official and ministerial level; that it was brought to the attention of the committee that the Prime Ministers of Australia and Canada made direct calls to their counterparts in Egypt on behalf of their citizens; and if it was felt by the Department and the Taoiseach's Department that such an intervention or a call by the Taoiseach to his counterpart in Egypt would be appropriate, we would welcome such an intervention to try to progress as quickly as possible the release of Ibrahim?