Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy again for raising the issue. I previously outlined that we engage considerably on the issue at a multilateral level. I will refer to some of our most recent work in this area. At the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which concludes later this week in Geneva, Ireland took important steps to highlight our concerns around religious freedom. Along with 46 other countries, Ireland signed up to a joint statement on human rights in China. The statement noted with particular concern reports of China's restrictions in Xinjiang, which include restrictions on the right of the Uyghur population to freedom of religion and belief. Ireland also presented an item 2 national statement, which called on the Chinese authorities to respect international law, particularly in relation to the rights of those living in Xingjian and Tibet. At the Human Rights Council, Ireland has previously supported resolutions to extend the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur for Religious Freedom to allow a continuation of this important and meaningful work on the world stage. Furthermore, officials in my Department have been following with great interest the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, taking place in London this week. We participated, on Tuesday of this week, in a parallel event at the British Embassy, which included attendance by members of the Dublin City Interfaith Forum. All of this work that is being done by officials at a multilateral level with different bodies is done on behalf of the Government of Ireland and the people of Ireland. The Taoiseach cannot be at every single meeting.

However, as I think the Deputy can see now, there is a huge amount of work being done by the Government in this area and I am grateful he has given me a chance to outline that. Ireland is fully committed to protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief and continues to use all avenues available to highlight our concerns and actively engage and support like-minded partners. I again thank our embassy in Abuja for the work it is doing in following the investigation and working with people on the ground on behalf of Ireland, this Dáil and the people to get justice there and to ensure an investigation can find out what happened and put a stop to all this violence and discrimination against people because of their religion or belief.

See this speech in context