Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 22 and 37 together.

The siblings named in the questions were caught up in the demonstrations at al-Fath mosque in Cairo on Friday, 16 August. After being alerted to their presence in the mosque during the night of 16 August and early morning of 17 August, our ambassador in Cairo contacted the Egyptian authorities and after some considerable effort succeeded in obtaining agreement for safe passage for them to leave the mosque, although for various reasons the offer of safe passage was not taken up by the persons concerned. Since their detention, the embassy has been allowed consular access to the family on a number of occasions. The first consular visit took place on 20 August and the embassy official checked on their general welfare and arranged for medicine to be supplied. At that time all four were being held together at the security forces headquarters in Tora district. They were subsequently moved, three to El Kanater prison and one to al-Salam central security forces camp, where they are still being held. Further consular visits were made to one of the detainees on 24 August, 8 September and 15 September and to the three others on the 25 August, 5 September and 18 September. Officials from the embassy also travelled to al-Salam camp on 29 August with a view to attending the case hearing in the presence of the prosecutor. Despite receiving prior assurances from the prosecutor’s office that access would be granted, embassy officials were denied entry by security forces personnel. Officials from other embassies were similarly prevented from attending hearings for their citizens.

Officials from my Department in Dublin met with family representatives on 17 August and 19 September. My Department, through the embassy in Cairo, continues to liaise with the Egyptian authorities on this case. Most recently our ambassador met with an assistant Minister from the foreign ministry to relay our concerns with regard to their continued detention without charge. Officials from my Department in Dublin have also discussed this case with representatives from the Egyptian Embassy.

The Egyptian authorities are still reviewing their cases and at present it is still unclear whether formal charges will be brought against them. A decision to extend their period of detention for a further 15 days was taken initially on 1 September and again on 14 September to allow more time for investigations to be completed. Over the weekend, their detention was extended for a further 45 days, along with those of many others arrested that day.

My Department will continue to provide consular assistance to the four detainees and their family in Ireland. My Department continues to advise Irish citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Egypt, with the exception of Sharm el-Sheikh, at this time. If, against our advice, Irish citizens decide to travel elsewhere in Egypt, they should exercise extreme caution and avoid all protests and demonstrations.

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