Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In yesterday's Irish Independent, Ms Yvonne Murray updated us on a case that I raised with the Leader more than ten weeks ago, that is, that of Australian Mr. Robert Pether, who has been in detention in Iraq for 76 days. His wife and three children, all of whom are Irish citizens, live in Elphin, County Roscommon. I commend the Leader because when, with the House's support, she gave the Seanad a commitment to bring the matter to the Department of Foreign Affairs, she did so. I appreciate that. However, it is with a heavy heart that I express my disappointment with the Department, which has virtually left this woman and her three children on a desert island. They have no more flares left to send up to notify people of where they are. The oldest son could not complete his leaving certificate in recent days. He has pulled his applications to two universities in this country. The children's loving father has been taken away and it has devastated the family.

I supported many politicians on this island when they spoke in favour of the Belarusian journalist, Mr. Roman Protasevich, who was horribly and wrongly thrown in jail with his fiancée. I am asking Irish politicians of all persuasions to have a heart. I am asking everyone who is a parent to have a heart. This woman has a United Arab Emirates driving licence that she cannot use to drive in Ireland, yet she cannot get a theory test. This is all a total failure of the State. I understand diplomacy. I am not asking the Department to poke its finger into the Iraqi Government's affairs, but will everyone in this Chamber, journalists, officials and politicians please take note of what I am saying and try to lend a hand to a distraught family?