Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom tacú leis na Seanadóirí atá ag léiriú imní maidir leis an socrú atá á dhéanamh i dtaobh PESCO. Ba mhaith liom cuidiú leis an leasú ar Riar na hOibre atá curtha chun cinn ina leith sin. I am seconding the amendment to the Order of Business and adding to the concerns about PESCO.

Yesterday evening, we had the honour of hosting a number of MPs from Catalonia in the House. They came to Ireland to discuss the election campaign that is happening there at the moment, to raise concerns about that process and to ask us to do a number of things. A number of people from Ireland travelled to Catalonia in October to act as international observers during the referendum there. There are concerns that there will be no international observation of the elections that are taking place on 21 December next. It is important for every election process to be robust, fair, open and transparent. The Irish Government can play a role in this regard by asking the Spanish Government to allow it to send people to observe the process in line with international best practice. MPs in Catalonia are concerned that people wearing yellow ribbons in favour of politicians and civic representatives who have been imprisoned will not be allowed to go into polling stations and that posters which say "Democracy" and "Yes" will not be allowed to be hung in public places. They raised many other issues relating to the dissemination of information, how people are being portrayed in the media and the language that can and cannot be used. They are very concerned about such issues. Our Government should be asking the EU to send international observers to the elections in Catalonia.

We are not taking any sides when we say there is a need to make sure the process is run in a proper manner and is fair and open. If we are happy that this is the case, it is incumbent on us to call on the Spanish Government to make sure it respects the vote and the democratic right of the people, regardless of the result of the election. Maybe at that stage we will be able to help by calling for international mediation around the crisis in Catalonia. I ask the Deputy Leader to put that to the Minister. Maybe we can have a debate in the new year on the result of the Catalan elections.