Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to put on record my condolences to the community of Creeslough. Everybody is heartsore looking at what happened over the weekend. I hope the community will be given all of the support they need in the years to come. They are in our thoughts.

I will not get an opportunity to speak on the Private Members' motion on Iran tonight but I want to offer my support. It is very important that we show solidarity with the women in Iran and continue to show solidarity with women across the world. When people are dictating what they can and cannot wear, it is important that this is recognised.

I want to move on to talk about human rights in Qatar, particularly with the World Cup taking place there shortly.I cannot be any clearer in saying I do not believe the World Cup should be taking place in Qatar. It was a shameful decision. The Amnesty International report for 2021 and research completed over the past decade confirm it was a terrible decision. Since the award was made to Qatar over ten years ago, over 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar. They have died building the stadiums, airport, roads, public transport system and hotels, and even a new city, which will host the World Cup final. We are aware that migrant workers in many countries are the lowest paid and have no workers' rights. It is particularly the case in Qatar. The construction industry has failed to protect the 2-million-strong migrant workforce. When we see Qatar's grim death toll revealed in the official data, it is really striking that the causes of death include falls from a height and asphyxiation due to hanging. Deaths of undetermined cause are also listed. The most common cause of death listed, natural death, was attributed to acute heart or respiratory failure because of the conditions in which the migrants were working. That is before we get on to all the other human rights violations. Therefore, it is deeply concerning to see that a Member of this House went on an all-expenses-paid trip to Qatar to try to whitewash what has happened there. The country should never have got the World Cup. I hope that if people watch it, they will remember the workers who died to make it happen.