Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

My reason for tabling this question is that in a number of countries, including some of our partner countries, thousands of acres have been purchased by countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and others on the basis of there being a global food shortage. That will entirely disrupt native agriculture.

I refer to the rights of indigenous producers. The Minister of State said conflicts in Africa are being resource based in so far as migrants are returning from cities and elites in different governments, including some of our receiving governments, are negotiating with multinationals on the basis of land titles.

The Minister of State is aware of my academic views on this but my net point is that the notion of the so-called establishment of titles to land is being used as a Trojan horse which will have the effect of quenching any prospect for women, who have no rights in agricultural production, quenching the rights of people who are, for example, returned migrants from the cities and of provoking, as it has, loss of life and conflict, most recently in Kampala in Uganda where there are disputes in regard to land titles.

Can I take it that Irish Aid and others will look at indigenous rights and new indigenous models of conveyancing land title which will serve the indigenous people rather than multinationals?

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