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

I understand that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, met with representatives of the Saudi Arabian regime recently. Can the Taoiseach tell us if the Cabinet subcommittee on Europe has discussed the issue of the absolutely terrible war in Yemen, which has lasted for almost seven years? Approximately 16 million people, half the population, are suffering from hunger, 3 million have been displaced and an estimated 220,000 have lost their lives, either directly or indirectly as a result of the war. The Saudi Arabian regime is deeply implicated in the horrific military campaign which has caused this humanitarian disaster, and, of course, the United States has also provided military and logistical assistance to the Saudi Arabian regime.

That regime in Saudi Arabia is involved in crushing any dissent. It is not possible to oppose the war, although many Saudis Arabians do. I was at a protest with Saudi Arabians and Yemenis outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in the past two weeks. Has the Government anything to say about this situation? Will it call publicly on the Saudi Arabian regime to end its horrific siege and the military attacks on the people of Yemen? Many of our European counterparts are selling weapons to the Saudi Arabian regime, and those arms then go on to be used against the people of Yemen. Is the Government going to speak out in Europe about this humanitarian disaster that the people of Yemen are facing?

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