Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I request the Leader to use his good offices and that of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, to seek the early release of the Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa, who is being held in jail in Egypt. He was arrested in August 2013 and has been in prison for over 600 days. His life is possibly in danger because there are 450 other prisoners held in that prison in Cairo. Amnesty International is campaigning for his release. The Government is aware of the situation and the Taoiseach has been contacted. He is an Irish citizen who was 17 years of age in 2013 and is now 19. I met his sister campaigning for his release outside Leinster House this morning. His two sisters, who were in Cairo with him, were released in 2013. His family are worried and concerned. I would like to use the good offices of Seanad Éireann to appeal to the Egyptian ambassador and the Government in Egypt to release an Irish citizen. He has a right, as someone born in this country and a full Irish citizen. The Government is not doing enough for his release and I ask the Leader to use his good offices to intervene.