Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

What I hear from the Minister's response is that he has no new initiatives. He has no different plan, even three or four days after this latest setback. In the interim, we have still been doing trade deals with Egypt, as if there were no problem. I suggest that we start to raise this at a higher level, at European level. This is the sort of issue in respect of which we should be putting pressure on Egypt not only as Irish citizens but also as European citizens. We should be operating at a far greater scale than before.

I suggest that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade bring in the legal team for the likes of Mr. Peter Greste, who was successfully extricated from similar circumstances. How was it that the Australians were able to achieve something in this regard while we have not been able to? At some stage, it will be asked why the Government is not exerting sufficient political pressure, including in respect of trade and other matters, with the Egyptian State because the latter is treating us with contempt in the way it is dealing with an Irish citizen. We have held back to allow due process, but there is no due process. That is what the Minister needs to raise at a much higher level than it has been raised to date.

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