Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment. I await the Minister of State's response with interest. Although I expect there will be reasons that he will not be able to accept the amendment, Senator Norris's contribution gives us all pause for thought in regard to our interaction with China in the context of that country's treatment of its prisoners and the harvesting of organs across the prison system. We have developed very strong economic links with China in recent years. In fact, it could be argued that the relationship is getting so close that there is almost a danger of becoming overly-dependent.

As part of our ongoing economic dialogue with China, we should not forget that there must be a human rights dimension to that engagement. Specifically, we should use our evolving relationship to bring about, in so far as a small country like Ireland has a capacity to exercise such influence, an improvement in the human rights situation in that jurisdiction. Our two countries are geographically distant and much of the information we have about China comes from media reports. We have heard of dreadful scenarios where prisoners are being selected for organ donation against their will, with some jails being apparently almost like organ supermarkets.

We are morally obliged to speak out about this. Irrespective of whether our condemnation has any impact, we should at least engage with the Chinese authorities to express our concerns. China is deservedly admired for the huge developments that have taken place there in the past 70 or 80 years. Its people are no longer suffering from famine and the total poverty that existed 100 years ago. Some of that economic progress, however, has come at a huge human rights cost. We must promote the balance between economic advancement and human rights. In so far as we can put any degree of moral pressure on China on an issue like this, we must not hesitate to do so. I ask the Minister of State to speak to his colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation about this issue. Our efforts to develop the Irish-China market must not ignore the human rights dimension. Without taking from the progress the country has made, until such time as human rights in China are on a par with human rights in the western world - setting aside the debate on what precisely constitutes human rights - and Chinese citizens have full human rights and freedoms, there will be a stain on our relationship. We should encourage China in so far as we can to advance its human rights agenda. We cannot force a change in attitude on the issue of involuntary organ donation, but we should at least note it.