Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The first issue I raise relates to my earlier Commencement matter. I refer to the urgent need for a review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. The response from the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, confirmed that there will be an independent chairperson, which is welcome. However, no timeline was provided regarding when that person, whether he or she, will be appointed, nor was there a timeline for the review itself. Like the Deputy Leader, I was a member of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. Three years later, I am concerned that no urgency is evident from her colleague in government in dealing with this matter.

I ask that the issue of safe access zone legislation be addressed as well. It is provided for in the programme for Government, which is very welcome. There have been daily protests outside the University Maternity Hospital in Limerick, so we need safe access zone legislation. I am very concerned that the Government is retreating from this commitment. I could get no answer on it from the Minister of State this morning. An answer I got to a previous Commencement matter suggested there was no need for such legislation. I ask that this matter be addressed. I suspect that Senator Chambers, like me, supports the need for safe access zone legislation. It is very important that we have a clear call on a cross-party basis for such legislation as soon as possible.

The second issue I raise is Colombia, which is close to my heart. I travelled with the Justice for Colombia group to that country two years ago to meet trade unionists and social activists. One of the young men I met then was gunned down just a few months ago. There has been huge social upheaval in Colombia. People are campaigning and standing up against poverty, corruption and the failure to implement the peace process. To give some statistics, Colombian human rights organisations recorded 3,798 acts of police violence between April and May 2021, with 41 people killed, 26 sexual assaults, 1,649 arbitrary arrests and 65 eye injuries.

One harrowing video shows four police agents dragging 17-year old Alison Meléndez into a police station in Popayán, as she shouts that they are removing her trousers. The next day, after having reported that they had sexually assaulted her, she took her own life. Something horrific is happening in Colombia. The response from the Colombian Government has been frightening. Rather than address the issues, it is trying to disparage the protesters by calling them terrorists, when they are no such thing. They are ordinary campaigners and ordinary people standing up for justice. We must not forget that Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a member of a trade union.

Ireland has an important role to play. We are on the United Nations Security Council. I ask that we have a debate on Colombia. I am also asking for the Government to take action. The only thing that concerns the Colombian Government is its ability to trade freely with the world. We must use that leverage now, because the Columbian Government is killing its own people in horrendous numbers. We need to stand up and our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, must stand up and put real pressure on the Colombian Government to respect the peace process, engage with the national strike committee and stop killing its own people.