Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a debate going on in one of our national papers about two of our MEPs who have adopted certain positions in respect of a range of issues. They have been called a national embarrassment by Kathy Sheridan. In today's paper, there is a letter defending their position from Clare Daly, MEP, and Mick Wallace, MEP.

It is not for me to say who is or is not a national embarrassment or what is embarrassing. It is not for me to say that about any particular MEP. As part of the MEP engagement in this Chamber, Clare Daly was here but, unfortunately, we did not have the time to properly go into these issues. In the letter reported today Clare Daly and Mick Wallace state that they think that Kathy Sheridan is embarrassed by their stance on the importance of a peaceful world order based on respect for international law, co-operation and diplomacy and the United Nations Charter. I take issue with that.

As I said, it is not for me to say what stance is embarrassing but at the same time we are talking about people who have described the Uighurs genocide in China as being a fabrication of the United States. That is embarrassing. There is not a single credible source in the world that does not believe that is happening. We are talking about people who have said that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader in Belarus, is a pawn of the west. That is embarrassing. There is not a single credible source that suggests that. When you look at the hundreds of people who are still detained in Belarus as political prisoners, all of the evidence counteracts that.

When we look at these people, they are also part of a tiny minority who voted against a European Parliament motion to build closer unity with Taiwan. That is an embarrassment. While they talk about the rules of the international community and international rules based order they are flying in the face of that when they say that Taiwan is not entitled to be self-determination. That is an embarrassment. The next time that we have that MEP engagement we, as Senators, must put these points to both of those MEPs to give them an opportunity to explain their inexplicable stance in respect of important international law issues like that.