Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senators, particularly the Independent Senators, for their contributions. As usual they were incisive, constructive and extremely well informed on the important issue of human rights for which Ireland has an international reputation.

The Independent Senators have put down a motion on a series of human rights, equality and poverty issues of mixed ministerial and departmental policy responsibility. There are several foreign policy aspects which are the policy responsibility of the Department of Foreign Affairs which I am happy to address in the absence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, who is on an official visit to the Middle East and Gulf region this week. Such a visit affords the Minister the opportunity to raise and discuss some of the international human rights issues which are the subject of this evening's motion here.

There are several domestic issues contained in the motion for which the Department of Foreign Affairs has no policy role. Some, including the Equality Authority, the Irish Human Rights Commission and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism, NCCRI, are the responsibility of my colleagues the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Mary Hanafin, who has policy responsibility for the Combat Poverty Agency.

The Government side regrets the overly and unfairly negative tone of the original motion and some of the comments of the Senators in their statements to this Chamber today.