Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The travel restrictions imposed by the authorities are naturally of great concern to us. We have always had free access to all parts of the country. The system involves applying for permits to leave Addis Ababa to travel north and south, although all permits applied for have been granted. Nevertheless, it is of concern that a foreign country, which has a partnership arrangement with the Ethiopian Government, must apply for permission to leave the capital, especially during election time.

The leader of the opposition to whom Deputy Higgins referred, Ms Birtukan Mideksa, is still in prison. She was released as part of a 2007 pardon arrangement but she was imprisoned again because statements she made about the 2007 process were regarded as having violated the terms of her pardon. This is also of concern to us. I raised the concerns of the Irish authorities when I visited Ethiopia last year. Together with our EU partners, our embassy in Addis Ababa continues to monitor her situation very closely and regularly raises our interest in her case directly with the Ethiopian authorities.

In terms of the election count, it takes what appears to be an unnaturally long time - three to four weeks - but that is for the final result. Results are published as they are counted in the individual areas, although the time appears to be quite long. However, one must accept this is a rapidly growing population covering a huge area.

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