Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

When the European Political Community is discussed, there is usually much talk of human rights. Many European Political Community countries will shortly be involved at an event that will be much discussed in the context of human rights. I am referring to the Qatar World Cup, which starts in five days' time. The Qatari regime will try to use this event to sportswash its shocking record on workers' rights, women's rights and rights for the LGBT community. Many European states benefited from the rotten decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, not least the French Government, which sold fighter jets worth $14.6 billion to Qatar after France threw its weight behind the Qatari bid. I wish to give our Government the opportunity to reflect the sentiments of the Irish people and speak out strongly this week against the human rights abuses of the Qatari regime. I would be interested to hear the Taoiseach's comments on this matter in his reply.

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