Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to note as a member of the Security Council we are now dealing with a situation where there are, say, 30 files in this area compared to, say, 13 when we were last on the Security Council.

As I noted in my response to the Deputy, we are a very strong contributor in terms of the United Nations, and particularly in human rights. That, I believe, is strengthened through our membership of the Security Council.

The Human Rights Council has a primary role within the United Nations system to promote and protect human rights globally and to address the situation of human rights violations. In 2021, the Human Rights Council, in addition to three regular scheduled meetings, also held five special sessions to address urgent crises right across Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel, Afghanistan, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The recent 49th session of the Human Rights Council included an urgent debate on the Russian invasion of Ukraine adopting a resolution to establish a commission to investigate violations of human rights. Likewise, Ireland's membership of the United Nations Security Council provides an important opportunity to advance our foreign policy priorities, including the protection of human rights.

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