Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to begin by raising an issue that was brought up at the enterprise committee this morning and I am asking for debate on it, namely on the corporate sustainability and due diligence EU directive. It is an important directive that will help to establish human rights ethics in terms of supply chains in particular. There is an EU directive pending and I am concerned about the Government stance in relation to it. The Tánaiste was before the enterprise committee the previous week. To be frank, he was evasive. The line that came out was that it was early days in respect of the directive, but it is not. We heard this morning that we are on a third compromise draft. This is essential in order to ensure that we do our best throughout the EU to rule out child labour and exploitation and solve the horrendous abuse that we know goes on, such as in the form of attacks on trade unionists. This is an EU directive that we should all be able to get behind. In fairness, every party represented on the enterprise committee did get behind it this morning. However, there is an ominous silence from the Government. Can we get the new Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, who is a man I respect, to come in and have a debate on that topic in order that we can all get around it and ensure that Ireland takes the correct stance on this issue?

The second topic I wish to raise is in respect of a related human rights issue. This is an issue that does not get the attention it deserves. I refer to the tragedy in Yemen. As the Deputy Leader will know, the crisis has entered its seventh year. Almost 400,000 civilians have been killed. Some 16 million Yemeni are now on the edge of starvation. Hunger and malnutrition worsened this year. This country that has been ravaged by an illegal war waged by the Saudi regime. When we talk about regimes across the world, I find it hard to think of one worse than the Saudi regime in terms of how it treats women, how it treats its own population, the horrendous the degree of executions that take place and, of course, the horrendous oppression of the Yemeni people, which makes any other war pale into insignificance in the context of the horrific deaths, etc., that have occurred.

It is a matter of true shame that the Government has been silent in respect of Saudi Arabia. Worse than that, it sent the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, over there this year to pay a visit, not to call them out on human rights, not to call out the horrendous abuse of human beings and children across Saudi Arabia, but simply to tout for business. I have to ask the question as to how on earth anyone in this Chamber can talk about human rights and keep a straight face if they do not speak out clearly with regard to Saudi Arabia. Everyone knows that the regime there is horrendous. When I brought the Minister in a few months back, he would not even acknowledge that it is a dictatorship. That is what it is, however; it is a dictatorship. It is the most horrendous regime. My God, the stark contrast between the complete lack of action on Saudi Arabia and the correct actions that have been taken in respect of Russia is truly shameful.

I would like a debate on this issue. I want to call out the shameful silence of Government Senators and Deputies in respect of Saudi Arabia. If we cannot stand up for human rights in the context of Saudi Arabia, then we cannot stand up for human rights, full stop.