Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

There is a real humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and the last thing we want to do is take action or initiatives that would exacerbate the suffering of ordinary people. Therefore, that is not a route we will go down.

Our trade with Zimbabwe is minuscule and the economy has collapsed. As I mentioned, the cholera outbreak provides an opportunity and an avenue through which stronger international intervention could be considered, particularly in terms of the significant health epidemic that is taking place there. Ultimately, the real leverage is at the regional level and in our view, the main regional actors have not acted in a way that they should.

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