Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

For the fourth or fifth time, I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Foreign Affairs, or the Minister of State, to the House to discuss the situation in Sudan. The Government, this House and the European Union are silent on this issue. The worst sin of all is that the United Nations is also silent. The death toll has reached hundreds of thousands and 1 million people are being displaced as we watch. We must be seen to take a strong and proactive line on this issue and must demand that the United Nations fulfils its mandate. We have debated Iraq in this House on many occasions over the past 18 months. The scale of the turmoil, terror, killing and murder in Sudan is every bit as bad, but the issue is not getting the political attention it deserves. Our Government must use its voice at European and United Nations levels to plea for the people of Sudan. We have waited long enough.