David Norris (Independent)

I very much welcome the motion. The issue has the attention of the Irish people and it is on the political agenda as well. The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs had an interesting and useful discussion on this subject this afternoon, in the presence of representatives of Haven, Concern and various other organisations. The delegates were looking for aid etc. They pleaded for practical things like 900 latrines. This is the level which the relief effort is at. I pointed out that the crisis in Haiti has to be seen in a political context. That is what the joint committee, like the Parliament as a whole, does. In that light, we must consider the immediate and the historical contexts. I have learned more about Haiti in recent days.

I am not sure if the Minister of State saw a remarkable documentary on RTE television last week, which dealt with the work of a Roman Catholic priest from Massachusetts and, more importantly, the work of two Irish women, Dr. Louise Ivers and Ms Gena Heraty. It was remarkable to see Dr. Ivers operating in very difficult circumstances. When I spoke to her on the telephone yesterday, she told me it is possible that there will be an outbreak of dengue fever in the area. It is an extremely serious matter. I am very proud of Dr. Ivers, as I am of Ms Heraty, who said on the documentary, as she cradled in her arms a young spastic child who had been abandoned, that every human being has the right to be protected, loved, hugged and walked with on their journey through life. It is an accident that the people of Ireland are so privileged. There was a justified sense of outrage in the voices of the three people who featured in the programme.

Many people do not know about the Haitian Revolution of the beginning of the 19th century, which was led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. Slaves who had been brutally wrenched out of Africa, and planted in Haiti to be tortured, murdered and raped, revolted for the first time in 1802 or 1804. Their punishment for asserting their independence continues to this day. The people of Haiti were punished shamefully by France. I did not know until recently that France forced Haiti to pay reparations until 1947. Similar interventions were made by the Governments of Britain and the United States.

One of my colleagues made a coy reference to a change of regime in Haiti. There have been several changes of regime in Haiti. The US helped to install Papa Doc Duvalier, who took approximately $900 million from his impoverished country. The US got rid of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was elected by over 70% of the people of Haiti, with the connivance of the Haitian military and the remains of the Tonton Macoute. They put him into a car, took him to the airport, put him on an airplane and flew him to South Africa. How is that for regime change? How is that for democracy?

No one can prevent earthquakes or hurricanes - they are natural phenomena. Although the documentary I mentioned was made before the recent earthquake, the situation was desperate even at that stage. Haiti is ranked 149th of 182 countries on the UN index. It is not an accident that Haiti is the only country in the western hemisphere with such a low ranking. That has not resulted from hurricanes and earthquakes - it has resulted from the way in which Haiti has been driven down. If the earthquake had happened in any other country in the region, it would not have done the same damage. The people of Haiti are so poverty-stricken that they are unable to build houses in the appropriate way.

I would like to make a practical point in the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power. A meeting that is taking place in Davos at present was brought to my attention by my colleague, Senator Hanafin.