Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Conway mentioned the current situation with Ibrahim Halawa. We discussed this yesterday. The problem, as the Senators know, is not with this Government, which has been in daily communication with the Egyptian authorities. It beggars belief as to why Mr. Halawa cannot be released given the time that has passed since the announcement of the verdict. As I mentioned yesterday, the Egyptian authorities decided to take all 400 prisoners as a bloc rather than individually. This is disappointing.

I welcome Senator Reilly's contribution of the issue of Sparkasse, which is represented here today.