Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We should have a debate in this House about the manner in which high profile appointments such as those of UN special envoys are made by the Government. I do not agree with the Taoiseach when he says that the result of the recent debacle should be that such appointments would be made by open competition in future. An argument can be made that, provided the process is transparent and deliberative - which it certainly was not in the case of the proposed Zappone appointment - it should be within the gift of the Government, having duly considered matters, to make such appointments. However, there are two important lessons to be learned from the affair. The first is that Cabinet Ministers are leaking and that the Taoiseach does not seem to care. He seems to think it is part and parcel of politics. Those are the words he used but Article 28 could not be clearer. It says "the confidentiality of discussions at meetings of the Government shall be respected in all circumstances" and that only the High Court can determine otherwise. Despite this, we have the bizarre situation of an alleged sting operation involving a junior Minister to find out if a senior Minister is leaking. At this stage, the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, should be invited to take a polygraph test because the public is concerned. People would be greatly interested. It is a matter of public interest.

The second lesson is that appointments are being made because people have, shall we say, special privileges because they are in tune with the zeitgeist. The rights of LGBT people worldwide are certainly important and need to be defended, particularly in countries where those rights are being abused, but the more obvious tried and trusted appointment to be made in this case would be a special envoy for freedom of religion and belief under Article 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That includes the freedom not to have any belief. Many more people are being persecuted in the world today because of their religion than are being so persecuted because of their sexual orientation. Atheists are being persecuted by certain regimes because they do not have religious belief. The EU has such an envoy, as do Britain, Germany, Italy, Hungary and many other countries.Is there any sign of a concept note on that issue from our diplomats? They are well in tune with LGBT rights, and good luck to them, but priorities should always be priorities and you cannot have the vindication of one group's rights unless there is an equivalent interest in defending the rights of other groups. It is obvious in the eyes of other countries that freedom of religion and belief is one of the critical issues in the world today. It is not just Christians, though they are by far the most persecuted groups. There are others, including Muslims in various Muslim countries, Yazidis - it is a long list. I would like to see a greater level of interest from our Government in appointing such an envoy. I would like a deliberative and transparent process. By all means let Katherine Zappone apply for that position. She should have that right along with everybody else.