Seán Haughey
Question:1. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavík, Iceland. [24330/23]
View answerTuesday, 13 June 2023
Questions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:2. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent attendance at the Council of Europe. [24732/23]
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Paul Murphy
Question:3. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent attendance at the Council of Europe. [24738/23]
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Mary Lou McDonald
Question:4. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent attendance at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavík, Iceland. [24233/23]
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Mick Barry
Question:5. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent attendance at the Council of Europe. [25549/23]
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Neasa Hourigan
Question:6. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent attendance at the Council of Europe. [25679/23]
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Ivana Bacik
Question:7. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the Council of Europe summit. [25766/23]
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Bríd Smith
Question:8. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent attendance at the Council of Europe. [26170/23]
View answerOral answers (16 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos 1 to 8, inclusive, together.
I attended the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, on 16 and 17 May. The Council of Europe was established in 1949 in the wake of the Second World War to uphold human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe. The summit was only the fourth time it has met at leaders' level since its foundation.
During our Presidency of the Council of Europe last year, we pressed for the meeting to take place following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent expulsion from the Council. We worked closely with the Icelandic Presidency in preparing the summit and the Reyjakvik Declaration that it adopted. The declaration reaffirmed the important work of the Council of Europe and expressed strong solidarity with Ukraine. The declaration also commits member states to fully implementing the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.
Ahead of the summit proper, I met with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
Since Russia’s departure, the Council has been under increased financial pressure so Ireland pledged an additional voluntary contribution of €385,000, which will fund the work of the European Court of Human Rights as well as the Council's work on Belarus, its work on violence against women under the Istanbul Convention and also on Kosovo and LGBTI+ rights.
At the summit, I joined other heads of state and government in signing an instrument to establish a register of damage for Ukraine. It will help to ensure that Russia and its leaders will be held responsible for their actions. I also co-chaired a round-table discussion on the theme of supporting Ukraine in solidarity and accountability alongside the Slovenian President. This theme was also taken up in the general debate of the summit. I also took the opportunity to meet with the president of the European Court of Human Rights, Ms Justice Síofra O'Leary, who is an Irishwoman. I commended her on the important work of the court in upholding the European Convention on Human Rights and noted its importance to the peace process and Good Friday Agreement.
Following the summit, I had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Ms Katrín Jakobsdóttir. Ireland and Iceland, as north Atlantic islands, have much in common and are very like-minded on many of the challenges the world faces, including climate action and protecting biodiversity and our oceans. We discussed how to intensify co-operation between our two countries at all levels and I invited her to make a formal visit to Ireland.
I thank the Taoiseach. We have a lot of questions. Can we try to stick to one minute per question if possible? Deputy Haughey will speak first.
It is clear from what the Taoiseach said that one of the main objectives of the recent meeting of the Council of Europe and Iceland was to show solidarity with Ukraine and in particular to see how Russia can be held accountable for its war crimes. Russia has undoubtedly committed many war crimes in Ukraine, including attacks on civilians and on critical infrastructure. We have just seen the blowing up of the Nova Kakhovka dam. However, there has also been rape and torture as well as the deportation of civilians, including many children. How to achieve this accountability is the question. It could be done by supporting the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, supporting Ukraine's cases at the International Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights or by supporting those trying to establish a special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which includes the preservation and storing of evidence for future trials.
Can the Taoiseach confirm that Ireland is playing an active role in trying to get this accountability and outline what our approach is in this regard? As I said, there are a number of approaches to it. What is our approach to it in order that we can all achieve the same objective of getting this accountability?
Yet again, it is noticeable that despite the sort of laudable concerns the Taoiseach had about human rights at the Council of Europe, there was no mention of Palestine. Yesterday I met with the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel. I met its representatives again at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. They are, in a word, looking for states to be consistent in terms of the application of international law and for accountability for states that are violating human rights. They have detailed reports about how there is systematic denial of human rights to Palestinians going on and, critically, that the International Court of Justice, at the recommendation of the assembly and the committee, is looking for submissions on the question of whether the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory has become permanent and, therefore, that the possibility for Palestinian self-determination is no longer viable because Israel, in practice, on the ground and by policy, has no intention of giving back territory it has seized by force. The commission is looking for the Government to submit to that effect. I draw the Taoiseach's attention to the resolution passed by the Dáil in 2021 when we unanimously acknowledged the de facto annexation of Palestinian territory by Israel but have done nothing about it. When are we going to apply the same principles and requirement for accountability to Israel for its violations of international law on human rights that we are applying in the case of Ukraine? When are we going to ask the International Criminal Court to prioritise its investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity against Israel as it is doing on the question of Russia in Ukraine?
The Council of Europe has found that Ireland is in breach of its labour rights obligations. In its conclusions, the European Committee of Social Rights stated that the situation in Ireland is not in conformity with Article 4.1 of the European Social Charter on the ground that the minimum wage paid to workers of 18 and 19 years of age does not ensure a decent standard of living. The committee is referring specifically to the scandalous situation of so-called sub-minimum rates of pay whereby employers are legally permitted to pay young people even less than the inadequate minimum wage. Those aged 17 and under can be paid 70% of the minimum wage, which is less than €8 per hour. Those aged 18 can be paid 80% of the minimum wage, and 19-years-olds can be paid 90% of the minimum wage. Will the Government be taking the opportunity this week to rectify that situation by allowing our Bill to abolish sub-minimum rates of pay to ensure pay equality for young workers pass through Second Stage in the Dáil?
I am sure the Taoiseach will join me in welcoming the interim resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The resolution again expressed serious concerns about Britain's so-called legacy Bill, which is currently before the House of Lords. Members of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement are over there at the moment. It seems as if the British Government is hell-bent on ploughing ahead with its legislation. The only positive way forward is for the British Government to withdraw the Bill. It is opposed by families and victims groups, as well as all political parties across the island of Ireland, North and South, and all human rights organisations. The Bill is a cruel betrayal of victims and will do untold damage to reconciliation should the British Government continue this reckless course. There will be a number of legal challenges and that is why it is important that the burden does not fall solely to victims who have already been impacted by the failing of the British state over multiple decades to deliver the truth, justice and accountability to which those victims are entitled. Will the Taoiseach commit to an interstate case to be taken to the European Court of Human Rights if the British Government continues with this unilateral action? This reckless and unilateral disregard for international and legally binding agreements sets a dangerous precedent and may have global consequences. We have an obligation, and the Taoiseach has an obligation, to stop it here and now.
Does the Taoiseach intend to summon an immediate meeting of the Low Pay Commission to address the Government's breach of Article 4.1 of the European Social Charter on the issue of the national minimum wage and young workers in this country? The European Committee of Social Rights has stated that the fact that someone who is 18 gets 80% of the minimum wage and someone who is 19 gets 90% of the minimum wage pushes them below the threshold of 50% of average earnings that the charter states is the minimum for a decent standard of living. The committee has also said that the Government and this State are not in conformity with the European Social Charter. Deputy Paul Murphy has asked a relevant question as to whether the Government intends to support the People Before Profit-Solidarity Bill that aims to abolish these exemptions. The Bill will come up for debate tomorrow morning and will be voted upon tomorrow night. Does the Taoiseach intend to summon an immediate meeting of the Low Pay Commission to address this serious matter?
My question relates to the same subject. The Taoiseach did not mention it but did the issue of Ireland's breach of the Council of Europe's labour rights obligations come up for discussion while he was in Iceland? Thousands of people will be interested to know if it did. Approximately 34,000 workers are paid sub-minimum wage rates in this State. Half of those are young workers and apprentices comprise the other half. Many people do not know that is the case. I was talking to journalists who had no idea that beneath the age of 20, three different minimum wage rates apply and fall far short of anything that could give people a standard of living that would allow them to buy things, pay rent, go on buses and all the rest of it. The wages paid are as low as €7.91 per hour, which is 70% of the minimum wage.
Shame.
The only way to address that is to change the law, and we will attempt to do that tomorrow morning with our Bill. We will see what way the Taoiseach votes tomorrow evening. I ask the Government not to submit an amendment in order to kick the issue down the road for another year. There may not be much more than a year left in this Government's term of office. People are getting sick of things being kicked down the road. We need to deal with them now. These are people's everyday living standards. Young people should not be discriminated against.
I add my voice to what Deputy Conway-Walsh has said. We are hardly shocked that the Council of Europe has serious concern over the legacy Bill that has been proposed by the British Government. I have often said that the British Government introduced this Bill in order that it will not have to deal with the reality of what it did in the North and the dirty war it prosecuted in Ireland, collusion and all that went with it. The Bill is also about what Britain has been involved in since and what it may be involved in into the future. It is about protecting its military, those with whom it collaborates and what its intelligence agencies have always done. We need to ensure an Irish Government will stand up for Irish citizens. That is absolutely necessary. It is about what we need to do in the future beyond words.
Deputy Haughey asked how we can achieve accountability. We do, of course, support the work of the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court. We are open to the possibility of a special tribunal. The difficulty we have, of course, is that Russia, or at least the current Russian Government, does not recognise any of those bodies-----
Neither do the Americans.
-----and that is why it is important that Ukraine is supported in its attempts to defend its territory. In the meantime, we are collecting the evidence and will keep it in place for future prosecutions. We are helping to fund that. We have also agreed to establish a register of damages in Reykjavik and Ireland as part of that. We are helping in any way we can.
Deputy Boyd Barrett asked if the issue of Israel and Palestine was on the agenda in Reykjavik. It was not. That does not mean it is not important. It is not possible to have everything on the agenda at every meeting. It is worth pointing out that Israel has withdrawn from territories it has occupied in the past, for example, Sinai, south Lebanon and parts of Jordan. That is just an historical fact.
The Taoiseach is not suggesting that Israel is planning to withdraw.
On the issue of the national minimum wage, we have the sixth highest national minimum wage in Europe when adjusted for the cost of living and purchasing power parity. The increase this year is 7.8%, which is ahead of the rate of inflation projected for this year. On sub-minimum youth rates, in my capacity as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment last year, I wrote to the Low Pay Commission and asked it to consider the matter. That consideration would include research and at the right time, the commission will convene a meeting on that point. We expect the advice of the commission this year and we will be in a position to make a decision before changes come into place in January next year. One way or another, a decision on the matter will definitely be made during the term of this Government. The matter was not raised with me in Iceland.
On the UK Government's legacy Bill, I restate the Government's opposition. We articulate that opposition at every opportunity when we engage with the British Government. The Bill has not yet become law and as the Tánaiste has said, we do not rule out taking part in a legal challenge or interstate case but it is too soon to make that judgment now. I have met victims' groups and they know that the possibility of prosecutions in many of these cases is very low. However, they want that possibility to remain. They want investigations to happen and want to know what happened. They want people to have to account for their actions.
I am reflecting on Deputy Ó Murchú's remarks when I say this is not just about the British army but is also about IRA terrorists and loyalists. Most of the victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland were victims of paramilitary groups and they deserve justice too. We all need to look into our hearts to see what we can do on the legacy issue to help the disappeared to be found, to help victims of violence and to ensure that people who committed war crimes are held to account. That includes IRA terrorists as well as loyalist paramilitaries.