Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I want a bit of clarity on the Turkey issue. The Minister of State said there were other similar cases where we were not able to send observers to court hearings. I find that response slightly disturbing. This country, which is a candidate member of the European Union, is engaged in a purge of Stalinist proportions against all of its opponents, civil society, trade unionists, journalists, MPs, Kurds, leftists - you name it - and other Islamic factions. What is going on is horrendous but the Minister of State is telling us that we cannot even send along our diplomats to observe court hearings to see if fair procedures are being followed. I find it quite disturbing that, in terms of absurd trumped-up charges being levied against leading representatives of Amnesty International, we cannot even attend the court.

I know the Minister of State had a long list of questions to answer. However, I did not catch it if she responded to the question on the European Committee of Social Rights and its ruling on the damp conditions and inadequate standards in local authority housing. What does the Minister of State know about it and what will we do about it?

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