Mr. Carmelo Abela:

I hope that I have taken note of all of the questions asked but if not, I ask the Deputy to remind me.

A question was asked about developments in the investigation of the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017. The Maltese Government has condemned that killing and has made it clear that it will leave no stone unturned in terms of solving that crime. After a number of weeks the local investigators, with the help of international investigation organisations, managed to gather enough solid evidence to arrest a number of people. Three people were arraigned and the investigation is ongoing. Of course, the three suspects have been kept in prison and the hearing in the law courts is still going on. This is the judicial process when it comes to the arrest of these three people. The investigators believe that they have enough evidence to prove that these three people are the ones who committed the crime but the investigation is ongoing because the investigators need to establish whether they acted alone or whether others were involved in the ordering of Ms Galizia's killing. The investigation into this aspect is ongoing. An article was published recently which indicated that the police have a number of suspects in their sights but they want to have hard evidence before proceeding or announcing further developments.

The Deputy referred to the conditions in Libyan migrant camps and I share her concerns in that regard. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration, IOM, have the same concerns. They are on the ground in Libya and we share their concerns. The Libyan authorities, if I am not mistaken, say that the numbers of migrants kept in these closed camps are not excessive but regardless of the numbers, human decency must be respected. These are not centres that respect human decency. I share the thoughts of the Deputy on this issue and believe that we must help the Libyan authorities in this area. The Libyans feel that their country is being used as a point of transit when it comes to migration. It must be said that we have seen improvements in terms of the work of the Libyan coastguard. As members will be aware, a number of EU member states participated in the training of the Libyan coastguard and we are now seeing the positive results of that in terms of the commitment of the Libyan coastguard to saving lives and handling situations at sea well. It is not enough, however, and we need to do more in this area and to work together.

The Deputy asked if I have confidence in the Libyan elections. I made reference to the process that needs to be undertaken in terms of agreeing the rules of the game. That will help everyone to recognise the election results. It is important that this is decided as soon as possible and that everyone agrees with the legislative framework. I acknowledge the work of Mr. Ghassan Salamé, the UN Secretary General's special representative in Libya, who is trying to involve every actor and authority in Libya, to bring them together to at least agree on the way forward. This is a very good sign because we need everyone to be on board. This should be a Libyan led and owned process, first and foremost. While the international community must support the process, primarily it should be Libyan led and owned.

The next issue is Ghana. When it comes to Africa, from our perspective the developments in Ghana are relatively recent. We have relations with all north African countries which is understandable, given our geography. However, we were absent in sub-Saharan Africa until some weeks ago when we opened an embassy or high commission in Ghana. The Deputy referred to a trade mission or delegation. That took place in July 2017 when her excellency, the Maltese President, Ms Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, visited Ghana. I accompanied her on that state visit and we were positively surprised to learn that a number of Maltese businesses were interested in joining the President on that trip. I was positively surprised because 21 companies, which is a considerable number, were interested in a destination with which we had no close contact or connectivity and in which a number of issues had to be overcome. We are trying to look at Africa in a different way, especially the sub-Saharan region. We would like to develop this further. We can learn from and share the Irish experience in respect of the African continent, particularly in the area of overseas development assistance. We may even be able to consider some joint projects and to work together in that area.

This brings me to the broader question of development aid or assistance. In the context of our African partners, we need to speak more about trade rather than aid. That does not mean that there is no scope for aid, especially in certain regions, but in essence we should talk about trade, which means investment and the creation of employment in these countries. At present, we are looking at our development assistance programme to determine how we can improve it, particularly through the work of NGOs that are active on the ground. Hopefully we will continue to improve on the process that we have started. We are grateful for the support of the Irish Government in this regard.

Questions were asked about the issue of taxation and about statements that were made by some which suggest that Malta is a tax haven. I fully reject such statements because that is simply not the case. Let me remind everyone that before we joined the EU in 2004, like every other member state Malta had to go through a whole process with the Commission and the various European institutions. Our taxation system did not change. The regime of taxation that we have today is the same as that which prevailed before we joined the EU. When some in certain European institutions say that Malta is a tax haven, which I refuse to accept, one must ask if they are alleging that the EU did not conduct its pre-membership scrutiny properly before we joined. Taxation is a sovereign issue and we want that to remain the case. When it comes to taxation, every member state should make its own decisions.

It is important to state that we have a similar attitude towards Europe when it comes to taxation.

Deputy Niall Collins mentioned the Middle East peace process and the fact that, for the time being, there is no process ongoing. This is a concern I share with the Deputy. That is why, in my opening remarks, I made reference to the current situation and to the hope that something will be going on soon and that discussions can possibly be engaged in again. We need to prepare for that however. Taking unilateral decisions will not help with the process. That is why, like many other countries that are active in the United Nations, we were not happy to use the terminology used in the unilateral decision of the US to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem and to recognise it as the capital of Israel. That will not help the process. We also heard statements from the Palestinians that will not help the process to start.

The Deputy made reference to goods and services which originate in the occupied territories and asked whether we have a debate on this issue in my country. At least at present, we do not have such a debate. When it comes to the 1967 borders and all the rest we fully concur and agree that we need to find a solution to the issue of the settlements. That is part and parcel of the discussion that needs to restart. We hope that, especially if the US is coming with some proposals such as the famous "deal of the century" about which we have heard, there will be a balanced approach to all of these issues which will bring all to the table again.