Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The matter of Syria has been discussed at some considerable length at European Council meetings, where the bigger countries in Europe have taken action in respect of the opposition in Syria to the Assad regime. We have discussed this before and everybody is of the view that the Assad regime should go. The latest intervention, involving the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and Mr. Lavrov from Russia, on how ISIS is to be dealt with in Syria is an obvious case in point. The hundreds of thousands of people displaced and living in camps in both Jordan and south Lebanon, trekking across into Turkey and from there to Europe, speak for themselves on this absolutely devastating issue. We spoke of the European position and the need for action to be taken to end this war. There is another issue in Libya, which has no government either, and there is open season in terms of people from the Horn of Africa moving through to Europe.

I met the Egyptian President for 30 or 40 minutes with the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, and officials. We spoke to him about Ibrahim Halawa and made very clear, without any equivocation, our desire for this young man to be able to return home to Ireland. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, has had detailed discussions on this in the past week. I also made it clear, however, that we cannot change the judicial court system in any other country, and I discussed very clearly with the President the question of eligibility, once the system had been gone through, for a presidential pardon for Ibrahim Halawa. I left the President in no doubt of our request that a presidential pardon should be considered and granted so this young man can come home. In speaking to the President, I was not aware at the time that the trial would again be postponed because of the illness of two of the people on trial. I can confirm to the Deputy that I, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, and officials, did meet the Egyptian President formally, with minutes taken. We also discussed the quality of the developmental programmes that Ireland operates in sub-Saharan Africa, and he expressed an interest in learning more about those in view of the number of immigrant people and refugees taken into Egypt in the last period.

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