Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been no response on the trade agreement. As the Taoiseach said during questions to the Taoiseach, if it were the position of the European Council more broadly that there should be a response, we would get a response from Ursula von der Leyen. There are different positions. Ireland continues to advocate for its position. That is not a shared position. We raise it and try to bring others with us but it is not a shared position. If it were, we would get a response. We continue to raise it. I cannot put it any further than that.

Deputy Harkin's point about balance is important. Leaders spent about equivalent time on the two subjects at European Council meetings last week. It is also important in this debate that we reflect a similar balance in respect of what is happening in Ukraine and Gaza. I do not know where the figure of 25% came from; I thought it was 8%, as reflected in The Lancet, regarding civilian deaths in Gaza, all of which we condemn and are appalling. We also utterly condemn Hamas and its actions. It is also important to recognise the scale of death in Ukraine and of human rights abuses. The Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, told me that between 10,000 and 100,000 children have been taken away - stolen - from Ukraine. That figure was settled at approximately 20,000 at the summit in Switzerland. As Deputies said, these children have been stolen, taken away and removed from their families. It is important that this House devotes the same amount of time to that part of the human rights discussion as it does, properly, to Gaza. Listening to this debate, as I tried to carefully, I did not hear the same level of detail, discourse or articulation of details as in respect of Gaza. I call on the European Council to be more balanced in this regard. The Taoiseach has said he believes there is an inconsistency of approach and that the proper application of international law and humanitarian law is one of balance. It must also be the case in this House that we take a balanced approach in respect of the human rights abuses, which are equally offensive in Ukraine and Gaza.

We are concerned about Georgia and the foreign agent law and what that means. I understand the articulation by representatives of the Georgian Government or parliament. I met the foreign minister of Georgia in Luxembourg last week. He assured me Georgia is committed to Europe and European integration. I raised with him the foreign agent law and ancillary measures. I understand what the Deputy said regarding the convincing positions advanced by the representatives of Georgia. We utterly reject what they are saying. The evidence is that it is enacting legislation similar to that in Hungary in 2011, which is deliberately constraining of civil society. In this democracy, we have a fantastic and vibrant civil society, which we fund and try to promote and protect. It is quite the opposite in Georgia; it is very much against democratic interests. There is strong, albeit fractured, opposition to it. The law passed and the ancillary measures are a barrier to European accession, properly so, because Europe must focus on the rule of law and basic democratic principles. They are under threat in Hungary, in particular with the establishment of the national sovereignty office. They are also now under threat due to these actions by Georgia. If the foreign affairs committee, of which the Deputy is a member, wishes me to provide more information regarding the detail of some of the law and background to the dialogue, I am more than happy to do that.

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