Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

It is a little rich to hear comment by some members of Deputy Costello's party whose record in human rights is not the best, given their previous associations with the Soviet regime, Kim Il Sung and Saddam Hussein, none of whom were exactly great pioneers in the development of human rights.

Closer to home, Seanad Éireann debated the establishment of a committee of inquiry as recently as 31 January. On that occasion and twice during the previous year Senators, having debated the issues, concluded there was a lack of evidence to justify the establishment of such a committee and rejected a motion similar in content to the Deputy's proposal. The subject has also been thoroughly examined in this House in debates and through parliamentary questions and last summer Dáil Éireann voted to endorse the Government's policy in this area.

These investigations have raised a number of questions which require to be addressed. Domestically, the Department of Foreign Affairs continues to engage with the Irish Human Rights Commission on issues relating to our obligations under international law, on which there is a clear difference of opinion. In this context, I am pleased to report that the IHRC has accepted an invitation from the Department to continue this dialogue and a date has been set for a meeting.

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