Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish to refer to the points made by Deputies Boyd Barrett and Martin regarding the case of Ibrahim Halawa. Will the Taoiseah indicate whether the human rights situation in Egypt has been discussed at European Council since December 2014? Have the mass trials that are ongoing been discussed? A few weeks ago people were sentenced to death for participating in a protest and last week numerous others were sentenced to ten years in prison at mass trials. In that context, does the Taoiseach not agree that now is the time to personally intervene? That is what Mr. Halawa's family has been asking for. I understand that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade met the Egyptian Minister for the Interior last week and asked if Ibrahim could be moved to another prison, which has not happened yet. The examples of the release of the Australian citizen, Peter Greste and the Canadian citizen Mohamed Fahmy point to the highest level of political intervention being necessary to achieve the release of citizens. Would the Taoiseach not agree that now is the time to intervene directly with President el-Sisi and to demand the release of Ibrahim Halawa?

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