Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to thank the Minister for his very detailed response. I know that, during my time in government, initially the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was very anxious that matters be dealt with by its officials in Egypt, by the ambassador and, indeed, through that Department. The approach - which is the usual approach - was to provide all the consular assistance and advice possible on the assumption that matters would come before the courts within a reasonable period of time and there would be adequate human rights protections. I want to say to the Minister that I particularly welcome his comment that he is actively seeking the release of Ibrahim.

My understanding of the new legal provisions that are now in place in Egypt is that it is indeed possible that the President could decide to facilitate his release. He was in prison, sharing a cell, effectively, with Peter Greste, the journalist who has now been released and returned to Australia. This is a young man to whom great damage may be done by his continued incarceration. Not only will he experience the trauma of finding himself in these circumstances and the impact on his education, but he will need time to recover from the experiences that he has been through. It is of huge importance that we emphasise the urgency of this.

The one issue that I have concerns about - I know the Minister understands this and has mentioned it - is the concept of due process. There can be no due process in any trial in which an individual is prosecuted on a myriad of charges which are levelled against more than 490 other individuals and in which those against whom charges are brought are brought to prison and held in an enormous cage where it is difficult even to hear what is happening in the court, with no realistic capacity for lawyers to represent them individually.

This is a human rights issue. This is an Irish citizen. We are entitled to say to the Egyptian Government that this is not an appropriate way to proceed in its courts in dealing with an Irish citizen and that, in the interests of good relations between Ireland and Egypt, it should release this young man and allow him return home.

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