Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I will not take all day. I want to take this motion seriously. It was passed in July. We are now hurtling towards November and the sixteenth time that this young man will be before a trial. I bet 50 bucks the trial will be postponed. The Minister said he is worried about the sensitivities of the Egyptian Parliament. I do not see how he is surprised by their sensitivities. They have locked up 60,000 and killed 3,000 in a counter-revolution. I believe we need to stop treating them with kid gloves. This is the impression I and everybody else get. Certainly, the family has that impression. God knows what the poor young fella thinks, languishing in a prison with 30 other people in a squashed-up cell and suffering from mental illness. I believe we have to address it. I want to bring it before the business committee next week. As far as I can see, this House passed that motion and nothing has been done. The Minister tells me that the reason is because some sensitive Ceann Comhairle in Cairo got offended. That is not good enough.

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