Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The next issue concerns a motion relating to Ibrahim Halawa. Senator Daly has proposed a motion on the subject of his imprisonment in Egypt. The motion reads as follows: "That the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade request the Taoiseach to follow the example of the Australian and Canadian Prime Ministers to make direct contact with the Egyptian Ambassador in relation to the Ibrahim Halawa case."

As members will be aware, we had a meeting about this two weeks ago and there was a motion before the committee. We agreed to write to the Taoiseach and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The committee also agreed after the previous meeting that it would discuss this issue again after the retrial date, which I think is next Monday.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Sunday.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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We also have a briefing today from the Minister which I have circulated to members of the committee. I think it has been sent by e-mail anyway. We have a hard copy for members if they want it as well. I also know that the Minister answered a number of questions from various Members, including Deputy Crowe, yesterday during Priority Questions in the Dáil. Was it Deputy Smith?

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Murphy also spoke.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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We received the update on that. I understand the Minister is aware of the position and may in the coming week have another discussion with the Egyptian authorities. The committee agreed that it would look at this again after the trial date so how does Senator Daly stand on the motion?

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chairman for writing to the Taoiseach and I thank the Minister for keeping the Taoiseach fully briefed on it. I note that he states at a certain stage in his letter that it could be beneficial for the Taoiseach to get directly involved. They have not ruled this out as a future option. I welcome this development and will withdraw the motion.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The motion is withdrawn. I also spoke to the Taoiseach about the case of Ibrahim Halawa, as I am sure other members, including Deputy Durkan, have done. I know the Minister is very concerned about it and is monitoring the situation very closely with his officials in Cairo. We will revisit this at next week's meeting and we hope there is a positive result at the court hearing next Sunday. We hope that Mr. Halawa will be set free and will come back to this country. A lot of work has been done by both Government and the Parliament in this regard.