H.E. Ms Patricia Cortés Ortiz:

I thank Deputy Clarke and Senator O'Reilly for their questions.

Before addressing the questions related to Covid and the social impact on women when it comes to their participation in local elections, I do not want to miss the opportunity to reiterate that we are a democracy. When we say Columbia is a democratic country, it is not because it is a label but because we know that democracy is based on values, one of which is human rights. We fully believe in that.

On this issue of international scrutiny and transparency, members may not know that Colombia has had a UN office for human rights since 1996. There are more than 20 UN agencies in Colombia working on different areas. I will mot mention other countries by name but not many countries would be comfortable with such a presence or with working with these agencies. When we talk about investigations and human rights defenders, the UN office in the Colombia works with the fiscalía in identifying these cases. The institutions are independent and we work fully with the UN agencies. That is why we care so much and are always explaining and listening. We respect the seriousness of the issues driving the protests and guarantee that mobilisations are free and without stigmatisation.

As with all parts of the world, the security forces in Columbia have a role in protecting the rights of citizens. That is in the constitution and they cannot go further than the constitutional law. That is clear.

Colombia has faced the scourge of the drugs problem. Let me tell the members something from my heart. We see huge consumption of drugs in many countries, particularly in Europe. People cannot imagine the level of violence that is behind the consumption of drugs. Perhaps members may know this if they go to areas in Dublin such as Ballyfermot. Behind all of these drugs, there is always violence and the Colombian police have faced that for many years. The police has strict training in human rights. Could it be better? Of course, and it has to be better.

The security forces in Colombia have a constitutional responsibility to guarantee the rights of citizens to participate in demonstrations, which they have done. Their duties and obligations cannot go further than what is in the constitution and in law. I assure members that is the case. That is why I give an update on our investigations every two weeks. The Columbian police force is very legitimate. We are recognised for co-operating with many countries, including in Africa and Central America, for example, in providing training. We are at a difficult moment but I assure members that we are working within the law and the constitution. Any violations that have happened are being investigated and will full sanctions will follow.

I appreciate the question about Covid. As I have said, it has had a serious effect. The first thing the Government of President Duque did was to more than double the capacity of intensive care units, ICUs, and of the health sector in terms of medical doctors. Colombia is a very diverse territory of over 1 million square kilometres, extending from the Caribbean coast to the Andes Mountains and the Amazon. Colombia has 32 departments which are equivalent to Irish counties. In each department, there was a particular supply for ICUs to make sure we had capacity.

Colombia has had one of the longest lockdowns. As a result, many people are tired of the lockdown and the economy has been very heavily affected. The Government of President Duque made sure no one had to make a horrible decision about who could or could not go into an ICU. The Government also ensured the health sector could work by providing support. We were not as generous as Ireland has been with its population but we are providing this support. That was one of the reasons for the tax reforms. We are now having fiscal difficulties so we had to make sure we had enough resources.

I ask members to bear in mind that Colombia has ten times the population of Ireland. We have had more than 3 million cases of Covid whereas there have been approximately 260,000 cases in Ireland. Covid has caused 88,000 deaths in Columbia. We have started vaccinations. Colombia is experiencing a peak of Covid and the strikes have taken place during this peak. Imagine massive protests in Ireland in January this year. I just give that as an example. That is why the death rate has increased.

We have been very focused on vaccination and have already vaccinated 10 million people. We have already started vaccinating people of 40 years and older. Our population is not as old as it is here, perhaps, but it is important to keep in mind that we are focusing on this. We are actually vaccinating the teachers because we want to make sure that schools, although open, operate in a flexible way. There is a focus on students and members of the military. With regard to those associated with the peace implementation and reintegrated people, all of the people are being enabled to have access to the vaccine and healthcare. We have been heavily affected, as can be seen from the numbers. Colombia is now the country with the third highest number of cases. The is the kind of ranking a country never wants. We know the reality on the mobilisations but I am not according blame in that regard. I am just stating the reality. We are working hard on how to recover the economy, our main focus being on the social programmes.

On the question on youth and problems with education, we are now making sure that we provide subsidies to companies to make sure they hire staff between 18 and 28 years. On the matter of elections, there is to be an election in November for local, regional and national youth districts. This is new for us. It is to give a greater voice to the youth. This is what we call the pact for youth. There is a very ambitious programme for housing. Historically, Colombia has had very solid policies on housing but now, given that many people are on the streets asking for jobs and more opportunities, we have to be mindful that we cannot just achieve an economic recovery in terms of numbers. It must be in terms of people because this is what we know. We do not just talk about figures or GDP because we have to make sure we listen to the people.

On the impact of Covid on our health system, there was a health reform I wish to mention. The strike committee decided to ask the government to take it out and we did. The reform was to address some of the difficulties. In the cities, 97% of the people have access to healthcare. There is a public system and also a private health system. There are some issues because we have had to invest in more resources over the pandemic to make sure a long journey will be very stable. We are working on that. The Colombian Minister of Health and Social Protection is the vice president of the COVAX mechanism. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs went to Washington, where one of the first points on the agenda was to ask the US Administration to support us better in terms of vaccinations. Unfortunately, as we see, those who were able to get most of the vaccines got them. The reality, since we are not all vaccinated, is that it is very difficult to talk about a recovering economy. We have a solid plan. With the protests, some of the vaccinations in some areas were affected but we are now on track.

On the question as to whether there is a study on the long-term effect on our health service, we will share what we have with Deputy Clarke. I am not aware that we have a study. Maybe there is one but I am not sure of the information. Knowing the Deputy's interest, I will make sure she gets the information.