Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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54. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to media reports highlighting incidences where refugees and migrants from Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia have been kidnapped in the Sinai peninsula whereupon they frequently suffer enforced labour, rape and organ harvesting; if he has communicated his concerns to the Egyptian ambassador on this matter; if he is persuing this matter at EU level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23107/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I am aware of concerns regarding the current security situation in the Sinai and of various media reports about the alleged kidnapping of migrants as well as possible exploitation, forced labour and organ trafficking. This is not least due to prevailing insecurity in the peninsula and the difficulties involved for local authorities in effectively monitoring all movements of persons and goods through the area. Notwithstanding this, the Government takes these reports seriously, as do our EU partners, and we have raised them with the Egyptian authorities. Our Embassy in Cairo, along with the missions of other EU member States, has recently conveyed to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry concerns about the fate of migrants passing through the Sinai. We will continue to raise the issue at European level and locally, together with other interested countries.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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56. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action he proposes to take in relation to the detention of a person (details supplied) for three years without charge, in relation to the High Court's overruling of the application to take their case to the Supreme Court. [23099/13]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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60. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has had any recent meetings with the British Government to discuss the continued imprisonment of persons (details supplied); and if so will he provide details of these meetings. [23236/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 60 together.

I am very aware of the cases to which the Deputies refer and my officials monitor these and other cases very closely. The first individual was released by the British authorities under licence in 1992. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland revoked that licence in April 2010 and the individual has as a result been in custody for over three years. I understand that the Parole Commissioners are due to begin a second review of this case. In addition, this case has been the subject of complex legal proceedings. My officials have raised the recent developments in this case with the British side and will report to me shortly.

In the second case, the individual referred to has been detained for over two years since 13 May 2011, also following the revocation of a life licence by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Genuine concerns have repeatedly been raised about several aspects of this case by members of the Oireachtas including with regard to the legality of the individual’s current imprisonment and the conditions in which the individual is being detained. I have raised these very frankly with the British Government including during my meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Teresa Villiers, in Belfast on 29 April. The Parole Commissioners are currently reviewing this case and their decision is awaited.