Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The meetings that I outlined - in Tallinn, in Brussels, in Jersey and in Washington - are those that are confirmed. There are, of course, others that are in planning but are not confirmed yet. I have had bilaterals already with Prime Minister May, Prime Minister Ratas, Prime Minister Muscat and Chancellor Merkel. I have met President Macron. As Deputy Micheál Martin will know from European Council meetings, they run over two days and we spend about 14 to 15 hours together. During the course of those meetings, one has an opportunity to meet with all prime ministers and presidents, so I have actually met every Head of State or Government in the EU at this stage and was able to do that over the course of the two days that I spent in Brussels. There are others that are planned but they are not confirmed yet. I certainly see the value in having as many bilateral meetings with other prime ministers as is possible.

In respect of the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, I had a brief conversation with her about it. I understand that she made a complaint to the Garda with regard to harassment, and the Garda thought it sufficient to caution the individual against whom the complaint was made. Obviously, if Deputy McDonald has any further questions, she should put them to her directly. This is clearly a private matter. It is not one of public policy. It is one involving two individuals - one individual who felt that she was being harassed by another. The Garda, based on the evidence it saw, decided to take the action that it did.

On Egypt, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is currently in the Middle East. He is visiting Israel and Palestine at present. Consideration was given to adding Egypt to that visit but it was not possible to organise meetings at a sufficiently high level to make the meetings worthwhile. Deputy Howlin is quite right - there is little point in travelling to Egypt if one is not able to meet the people one needs to speak to. I know that the Ceann Comhairle and the delegation have been there and were able to secure some meetings. We are finding that a little bit difficult at the moment.

I did, at the request of Deputy McDonald, raise this issue with Prime Minister Tsipras, who again I met bilaterally when I was in Brussels recently. He was not aware of the case of Ibrahim Halawa, but he did agree to raise with President el-Sisi the case and also the issues relating to Greece allowing EU monitoring of the trial. That was done on foot of the request that I received in this forum.

As a Government, we want to do everything we can to secure the release of Ibrahim Halawa. He was a 17 year old when he was arrested and has been detained without a full trial now for several years. I think that everyone believes that he should be released, if not on bail, then released entirely so that he can return to his family in Ireland.

I have had a meeting with the ambassador, Mr. Cole, who came over from Cairo to meet me to discuss the case, and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has had several meetings about it as well. We are determined to do all that we can to assist in his release. We are also very conscious, though, that we do not want to do anything that might prove to be counterproductive. There is, of course, a risk of doing something that actually might make his situation worse and we need to be careful not to do that. My predecessor, Deputy Enda Kenny, spoke to President el-Sisi and also met him as well. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is seeking a conversation and meeting also with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Egypt. However, the Egyptian authorities are very much holding the line that they are not willing to intervene in a court process. While they may be able to do something when the trial is complete, they are not willing to do anything while the trial is under way, citing the separation of powers, which is often cited in this House as well.

We are not going to give up on our efforts. We will continue to explore all options and take any actions we can which will expedite his release but we must always be conscious not to do something which might be counterproductive.

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