Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I welcome to the Dáil today two of the sisters of Ibrahim Halawa, Nusaiba and Somaia, who are waiting patiently in the Visitors Gallery. I ask the Minister to please understand the enormous stress this family are under because of what has happened to their brother and son.

Ibrahim has been jailed in Egypt since August 2013 for participating in a peaceful protest. He is recognised by Amnesty International and Reprieve, two major NGOs, as a prisoner of conscience and they also fear his life is in danger. Let us be clear about the nature of the Egyptian regime in 2015. It is a vicious military dictatorship which is trying to reassert control after the Arab Spring revolution that has been taking place, which routinely mass-sentences hundreds to their deaths after sham trials and which represses not just the Muslim Brotherhood but also others, for example, a female socialist was shot in the street in recent weeks for participating in a peaceful protest. It crushes all opposition.

We and the family are asking not just the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, but at this stage the Taoiseach himself to intervene in this case. Given the situation Egypt, this should not be just Minister to Minister. The Taoiseach needs to intervene with the Prime Minister and the President to demonstrate beyond any doubt that the Irish Government is doing its utmost to get released an Irish citizen in a foreign prison.

I do not know how many Irish people are in foreign prisons at the moment but I certainly do not think sufficient of what needs to be done is being done by the Government. A man's life is in danger. Ibrahim has been tortured, whipped, electrocuted and shot in the hand. The stress on his mother is enormous. She has had to move to Egypt to visit him, and she was eventually allowed to see him on Saturday. He has been moved to the prison of Wadi al-Natrun, which is a notorious torture chamber. He said to her on Saturday: "Mum, take me out of here, they are killing me here". I cannot emphasise enough that if the Government does not intervene at the highest level, we could have a tragedy on our hands.

What I am asking the Minister to do is this. So far, it would seem the Minister has been making representations to the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr. Shoukry, and he has done this three times, as reported in The Irish Timestoday. The Irish ambassador in Cairo has also taken an interest in the case. All that is not disputed. However, what has been asked by the Minister is for a review of Ibrahim's case or for him to be given a fair and separate trial. There is no fair and separate trial possible in this situation. It is a mass trial of 500. They will not take out one person and give him a fair trial. We need the Irish Government to recognise he should not be in jail because he does not have any case to answer, as has been well-investigated and documented.

What is being done is not working. This is a dictatorship, not a normal Government. One month ago, a presidential decree was submitted by lawyers for Ibrahim but, one month on, nothing has happened. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, report back to us? The Taoiseach himself has to act on this presidential decree because that is the only way it will move from the prosecutor's office to the Prime Minister's office. It will only be done if there is a push and pressure at the highest level. This is how Peter Greste, the Australian who shared a cell with Ibrahim, was released. This is how the Canadians and the Turkish have had their citizens released.

I would finish by raising a question mark. The Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, is responsible for the diaspora abroad. Are there two tiers of citizenship in this country? We have given citizenship to many people. Ibrahim was born, bred and educated here. He has played GAA, in which the Minister of State has an interest. He is as Irish as anyone else. Are we serious about the new Irish or do we just think that Irish people are homogenous and only white and Catholic? That is a very serious issue. The family feel, and I certainly feel, that if his name was Paddy or Mick and if he was white, a lot more would have been done. I ask the Minister of State to put aside any concerns about the beef trade or any other concerns he has about the Egyptians and to please get the Taoiseach to intervene.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Coppinger for raising this matter. I also welcome the sisters of Ibrahim to the Visitors Gallery. If I get an opportunity, I will speak to them afterwards.

I am replying to this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan. Any suggestion that the Minister or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are failing to act because of Ibrahim Halawa's name or because of his Egyptian heritage is unfair and unfounded, and is completely contradicted by the record of actions to date in this case. Such suggestions are utterly untrue and entirely without foundation, and I would like to put that on the record of the House before taking this opportunity to update the House more generally.

The postponed preliminary hearing of the case involving Ibrahim Halawa took place in Cairo on Sunday, 29 March. Officials from Ireland's embassy attended, including our ambassador Ms Isolde Moylan. This hearing was different from previous postponed hearings. All the defendants were present and the judge indicated that he would accept oral or written submissions from the lawyers present on behalf of their clients.

Ibrahim Halawa's lawyers formally presented an application for his release on bail and specifically referred to his youth, student status and Irish nationality. Among the documents submitted was a formal diplomatic note from the embassy confirming the support of the Government for the application and other documents supporting the application that had been sourced with the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The fact that the Irish ambassador was present in the court was noted. The trial was then adjourned until 26 April to allow for consideration of the petitions made.

I was genuinely horrified over the weekend to hear the reports in the media that Ibrahim Halawa was being tortured. The welfare of an Irish citizen imprisoned abroad is a matter taken extremely seriously by the Government and immediate action was taken by the consular division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the embassy in Cairo. The ambassador, Ms Moylan, made an urgent consular visit to Ibrahim Halawa yesterday. She met prison officials and had a visit during which Ibrahim Halawa was able to talk to her freely.

While imprisonment abroad is traumatic for any young Irish citizen, based on the facts established by the ambassador through direct contact with the citizen, the reports of torture were discovered to be unfounded, nor had he been housed in a death penalty cell as had been suggested in some reports over the weekend. Unfortunately, these inaccurate reports may also have been damaging to our ongoing efforts in this case as they attributed to the Egyptian authorities a level of maltreatment and abuse that is not accurate.

Where Irish citizens are charged with offences abroad, it is the foreign court which decides matters such as bail and release. Just as politicians here cannot interfere with legal cases ongoing before the Irish courts, Ireland cannot directly interfere in cases before foreign courts. Given that a petition for release is currently being considered by the Egyptian courts, the Government does not intend to make further extensive comments on this case at this time. I encourage all Deputies to be similarly judicious in their comments. However, we continue to give all appropriate support to Ibrahim Halawa, as we would to any Irish citizen in his situation.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Everyone is glad that the Irish Government had a representative at the so-called trial. Does the Government recognise that there cannot be a fair trial in Egypt at the moment? I ask the Minister of State to address that in his supplementary reply. If the Government believes there is any possibility of a fair trial, which is suggested in the response, that would be very dangerous.

In regard to the Minister of State's claim that reports of torture were unfounded, we have to take what Ibrahim and his mother, who has visited him, have said. I do not know why the Minister of State is making that claim but he has said it in the Official Report, and therefore it is quite serious. The Reprieve organisation in Britain, which follows up the cases of prisoners, said that Wadi el-Natrun is known as the torture prison in Egypt by activists and prisoners. Many deaths have occurred as a result of people being in it. Amnesty International, which is well-respected, has said his life is in danger.

The Minister of State is suggesting that there is an over-the-top reaction. This young boy was 17 years of age, a child in legal terms in our country. In case there is any suspicion of anything, for people from Egypt to go back there to visit and then participate in a protest is absolutely and utterly natural. It would be like people from Ireland returning to Ireland and going on a water charges protest or any other political development which was taking place in a country.

There is no proof or suggestion anywhere that there was any wrongdoing or violence involved. Therefore, he should not be in prison. Will the Minister of State ensure the presidential decree that was submitted and used to get the release of other high-profile prisoners of other nationalities is obtained? Other governments got it via this route. Why is the Irish Government taking a different route?

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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The Government's actions in this case must be guided by the fact that there is a young Irish citizen in prison abroad who is subject to a foreign judicial system. I would ask Deputies to keep in mind that, however well-meant, injudicious or intemperate statements made or actions taken here in Ireland may have a negative impact on Ibrahim's plight. Rather than assisting the situation, such action may in fact be contrary to his best interests. Unfounded reports of torture and unfounded allegations of bias against the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are doing nothing positive for this case.

The key consideration for the officials working on this case at all times has been and will continue to be to ensure the action taken is in Ibrahim Halawa's best interests. I would also like to acknowledge that this is a very difficult time for the Halawa family, as it would be for any family in these circumstances. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is keeping them fully informed of developments and will continue to work co-operatively with them to make positive progress towards our shared goal, which is Ibrahim's return.

I am also aware of various calls for additional action by the Government. We keep all aspects of this case, including the Department's approach, under review. At all times, the key consideration for the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and the Department has been, and will continue to be, to ensure action taken is in the citizen's best interests.