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

A direct approach and as strong an approach as possible would achieve a huge amount more than what has been done so far. It is absolutely required because the Saudi regime, which is very wealthy and powerful and recently hosted the G20 summit, has clearly offered lots of platitudes about human rights. It talked about all the forums the Minister just mentioned and all the dialogue it has but it makes no odds when it comes to the repression of those who seek their own liberty. Due to its wealth and power, it seems to wield an awful lot of influence in the western world. We need to put pressure on the regime by calling in the ambassador and insisting this is dealt with in a humane way, that Ms al-Hathloul is released and that the terrorism charges against her are dropped. Clearly what she is doing is campaigning for human rights.

This is important because the open letter Oireachtas Members sent to the Minister has been circulated in Norway, Sweden and in the British Parliament as an example of how world pressure must be put on the Saudi regime, and other parliamentarians have been asked to follow the Irish model. If the Minister calls the ambassador in and does his absolute best to tell him this will not be tolerated and that it is seriously damaging Saudi Arabia's international relationships, they may well follow the Irish example. I ask him to please do something to set that example on behalf of the women of Saudi Arabia and on behalf of all human rights activists.

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