Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 April 2014
1. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach to set out the issues that were discussed at the bilateral meetings he had in Saudi Arabia and the actions to be taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2206/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra2. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if the situation in Syria was discussed at bilateral meetings he had in Saudi Arabia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2207/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra3. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if human rights were discussed at bilateral meetings he had in Saudi Arabia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2208/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra4. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and the meetings he had with Government officials there, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Crown Prince Salman; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2212/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra5. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent visit to Qatar and the meetings he had with Government officials there; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2213/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra6. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates and his meetings with Government officials there; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2214/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra7. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he discussed the issue of the Middle East peace process on his Gulf visit. [2233/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra8. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he discussed the humanitarian crisis in Syria with his Gulf hosts during his visit. [2234/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra9. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he discussed with his Gulf hosts the issue of alleged human rights violations and the alleged absence of democratic norms that exist in the region. [2235/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra10. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the outcome of his recent visit to the Gulf states. [2236/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra11. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he discussed with the leaders of Qatar the issue of migrant workers and their treatment. [2237/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra12. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he discussed with the Government of Saudi Arabia the treatment of women. [2238/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra13. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he discussed with the Government of the United Arab Emirates the issue of human rights and allegations of curtailment of democratic rights, including the vote in elections and arbitrary arrest. [2239/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra14. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent visit to the Gulf states. [2280/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra15. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach to set out the persons with whom he held bilateral meetings when he was in Saudi Arabia recently; the issues that were discussed; the actions that will be taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3534/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 15, inclusive, together.
I led a trade mission to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from 4-9 January, accompanied by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and representatives of 87 Irish companies. The purpose of the visit was to enhance our political, economic and trade relationships with these states, grow the level of exports and jobs and explore potential areas for future collaboration between Ireland and these key priority markets for Ireland. This was my first visit as Taoiseach to the Gulf and provided me with a valuable opportunity to meet senior political leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
There have already been immediate economic benefits resulting from the mission, with contracts worth more than €65 million announced by participating companies and an initial 95 jobs created in Ireland. I expect that further benefits in jobs, investment and export growth will follow.
There were also significant outcomes relating to air connectivity. Emirates airline announced a doubling of flights between Dubai and Dublin during my meeting with its representatives. I also met representatives of Etihad Airways and the company announced that it will increase the number of flights from Abu Dhabi to Dublin from ten a week to 14 a week. Both these changes will take effect this summer and will bring to 28 the number of flights into Dublin per week on these airlines. This is concrete evidence of our growing links with the region. I am fully confident that we will see further economic benefits for the people from this trade mission in terms of investment, exports, tourism and jobs.
I will outline the specific elements of my programme. In Saudi Arabia I met Crown Prince Salman, who is also Minister of Defence, and Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulazi, the Deputy Foreign Minister. At these meetings I discussed the potential for strengthening the economic and trade relationship between Ireland and Saudi Arabia and the potential for collaboration in such areas as information technology, health, education, construction and food production for our mutual benefit. I also welcomed the recent lifting of beef restrictions, a move which presents significant opportunities for Ireland.
I met Dr. Khalid Al Ankary, the Saudi Minister of Higher Education, and welcomed the strong educational links we have with Saudi Arabia, reflected in the 2,700 Saudi students currently studying here. The Minister noted the positive experience reported by these students and I emphasised Ireland's commitment to continuing this and to working on strengthening links further. I also raised the issue of accreditation for several institutions within our information technology sector. I understand that a delegation from the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education visited Ireland from 18-21 March and in particular visited seven institutes of technology. The Saudi ministry is currently compiling its assessment report. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, will attend the international exhibition and conference on higher education in Saudi Arabia later this month. The Minister will inquire about the outcomes from the Saudi visit while there.
During the meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Salman I noted the election of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Human Rights Council as a positive development in the area of human rights and expressed Ireland's interest in working more closely with Saudi Arabia on human rights issues. The issue of women's rights was not specifically discussed. We discussed issues around peace and stability in the region and these were also the main focus of my meeting with the Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah.
Regional political issues, including the Middle East peace process, and the situation in Syria, including the humanitarian crisis there, also arose in my meetings with the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al Than; the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum; the UAE Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed; and the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh, Abdullah bin Zayed al Nayhan.
In all of these meetings, I commended the Arab peace initiative and I reiterated our concerns about Gaza and the dangers posed to the two state solution by continuous expansion of Israeli settlements. I emphasised Ireland's strong track record in peacekeeping and conflict resolution and our concerns about the situation in Syria. I welcomed the Geneva talks process and reiterated Ireland's position that the Assad regime should step down as soon as possible in order to bring about peace, stressing the need for a solution based on political dialogue.
As well as discussing these international and regional issues, a key focus of my political meetings was on the potential to strengthen trade, investment and economic ties between Ireland and the Gulf states. In my meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar, we spoke about opportunities arising from Qatar's hosting of the 2020 football World Cup and offered our co-operation in terms of preparation for the event. While we did not specifically discuss the issue of migrant workers, I would fully expect that any Irish company engaged in associated contracts in Qatar would treat its workers fairly and humanely and have due regard to health and safety concerns. Indeed, Irish contractors reassured me on this.
During my meeting with the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, I updated him on the progress being made by Ireland towards economic recovery as well as Dubai's rapid economic development. We spoke about the strengths of the Irish horse racing industry, given his family's long-standing investments in stud farms and bloodstock in Ireland, including the employment of 350 people. We also discussed the strengthening relationship between Ireland and the UAE. The UAE's Minister of Economy, Minister of Labour and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs also took part in this meeting.
From an investment perspective, I had important meetings with the governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, SAMA, the Qatar Investment Authority and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ADIA. In each of these meetings, I emphasised Ireland's attractiveness for investment, outlined our progress towards economic recovery and invited all three agencies to visit Ireland to find out more about investment opportunities, including in infrastructure and foreign bonds. I met the Qatar Islamic Bank, QIB, where we discussed Ireland's strengths as a location for international financial services and Islamic finance. As a direct result of my visit, a QIB delegation visited Ireland last week and participated in an extensive programme, including a meeting with me in Government Buildings.
My programme also included a range of business engagements and events. In Saudi Arabia, I met a number of Irish companies and their Saudi partners. I performed the official opening of new offices for two Irish companies - SEPAM offices in Qatar and Glenbeigh offices in Dubai. I spoke at a health workshop hosted by the Dubai Health Authority to promote collaboration with Irish health care companies. I was also pleased to meet the Ireland Saudi Arabia Business Council, the Qatar business association, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and the Abu Dhabi chamber of commerce, which are all doing excellent work in fostering and enhancing business connections between our two countries. As mentioned, I met the CEOs of key airlines Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways, where the focus was on linking Irish firms with these airlines as suppliers of goods and services as well as connectivity issues.
I also attended a Tourism Ireland key partners event in Dubai. I attended business receptions in Riyadh, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which provided me with an opportunity to meet Irish members of the Irish business community resident in the region. I met members of the Global Irish Network in Dubai, where we discussed their experience of living and doing business in the region. They shared their insights into how we could deepen and strengthen our economic and trade relationship with the Gulf states.
This was a very successful and worthwhile visit that I expect, over time, to yield significant benefits to Ireland in terms of jobs, investment and trade. A key focus in the period ahead will be to ensure the opportunities arising from the visit are vigorously pursued by all the relevant Departments and agencies.
I thank the Taoiseach for his response. I tabled four or five questions out of the 15 to which he responded.
Regarding the Taoiseach's bilateral meetings with his Saudi Arabian counterparts, he stated that he had congratulated Saudi Arabia on its election to the UN Human Rights Council. However, he mentioned that there had been no discussion of women's rights. Why did he not discuss them, given the fact that one expects the treatment of women across the globe to be a core issue for the UN Human Rights Council in its work? There are fundamental issues pertaining to women's rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Taoiseach stated that he held a meeting with the Qatari Prime Minister at which he offered support for Qatar's efforts in hosting the football World Cup. I suggest that we review that support quickly. I do not know whether the Taoiseach listened to Des Cahill of RTE yesterday and today, but it has been estimated that 1,200 people have lost their lives in the construction works. These were migrant workers with no rights and in appalling conditions. Serious allegations about bribery to procure the football World Cup for Qatar have also been made.
One never likes to mingle sport and politics or regimes, but there comes a point when ethics and ethical behaviour, in this case the treatment of migrant workers, must be given priority over other considerations. As a country, we must adopt some moral stance on this issue, which transcends any other issue. I might stand corrected, but yesterday's report estimated that 5,000 or 6,000 people could die during the construction stage of the stadia for the football World Cup. Are we living on an alternative planet or something, that the world would just watch this happen or that we go on trade missions, wish Qatar well and offer some solutions to its problems in hosting the football World Cup while quietly ignoring the reality of what is happening on the ground to our many fellow human beings who are involved? This is an urgent issue. Should there be a football World Cup, given everything we have heard so far about Qatar?
This matter goes to the heart of government. Our Government represents the State and society. People will be appalled by what has emerged about the hosting of the football World Cup in Qatar, for example, the trampling and undermining of human rights and workers' rights to the point of people dying. Intervention is required, as are discussions with the sporting bodies, not just in this country, but across the world, about whether the football World Cup should go ahead. Will the Taoiseach address my question and detail the Government's up-to-date position on the hosting of the football World Cup? I take it that our Government will withdraw its support for the Qatari Government as regards construction projects and other activities that undermine workers' rights in such an appalling and blatant manner.
The third issue I wish to raise is that of Palestine and the continued denial of statehood for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. I visited Gaza some years ago as Minister for Foreign Affairs when I witnessed the appalling conditions in which people were living. They were under permanent siege. It is the largest prisoner of war camp in the world. This is unacceptable. We still read about announcements concerning new West Bank settlements by the Israeli Government even though talks are meant to be under way. We are not clear on whether there is proper and proactive engagement in those talks. Will the Taoiseach agree to raise this matter at the next European Council meeting and call for a renewed European initiative to promote real negotiations and to provide additional development funding for the West Bank and Gaza?
I asked about the Syrian conflict and the Taoiseach's discussions with Saudi Arabia and others. Last year, external pressure resulted in the regime's use of barbaric chemical weapons coming to an end. It has been estimated that 3.5 million people in Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance. The UN states that violence has escalated again in the past four weeks.
Worryingly, there are reports of dramatic increases in sexual violence. Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, says the regime is preventing UN aid from reaching over 90% of those who are in need. It is important that voices are raised again at international level. A stronger response is required to the regime's activities. This is the worst humanitarian crisis to emerge from any conflict in living memory. Over 100,000 people have died so far and 3.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
I commend the 100 Irish soldiers who have just returned from six months duty in the Golan Heights on their work. The Taoiseach will confirm that Ireland remains ready to help the United Nations in continuing to provide vital supports to help the refugees and those who have been hunted out of their homes and to provide vital aid to the victims of this conflict, particularly the victims of the regime.
While I said that the issue of women's rights was not discussed specifically, we did discuss the issue of human rights generally. There have been a number of positive developments in recent years, but human rights remain a very contentious issue in Saudi Arabia and the rights of women is one of the areas of concern.
Ireland has been active in raising human rights concerns with Saudi Arabia through the UN Human Rights Council, of which both Ireland and Saudi Arabia are members. In October last year Ireland made two recommendations during the examination conducted by Saudi Arabia under the council's universal periodic review mechanism. Ireland particularly expressed concern about women's rights, including the lack of progress in abolishing the male guardianship system, as well as the failure to enact a law of association to guarantee the right to form civil society organisations and to protect those organisations from government interference. Those two recommendations were made by Ireland at the UN.
Ireland is also an active member of the EU human rights groups in Riyadh, which co-ordinates EU policy on human rights issues within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and progresses implementation of the EU's human rights country strategy for Saudi Arabia. That enables member states to share information on human rights issues and to discuss how these can be most effectively progressed. That group meets regularly and engages with the Saudi Arabia human rights activists and seeks ways to develop co-operation with local human rights groups.
Ireland also regularly raises human rights issues directly with the Saudi Arabian Government. For example, Ireland's ambassador to Saudi Arabia has been active in highlighting human rights cases raised by the Irish non-governmental organisation, NGO, Front Line Defenders. The interests of those involved would not be served by specifically identifying relevant cases here, but in July our ambassador highlighted concerns relating to the case of a number of human rights defenders with the appropriate Saudi authorities. In recent months, our embassy also highlighted a number of cases at EU level which led to the EU delegation in Riyadh raising it directly with the Saudi National Society for Human Rights. That work will continue.
In respect of Qatar, I had never previously been to that country. The weather when I was there was quite cool, in the sense that the temperature was suitable for playing games or athletics. Obviously the temperatures rise dramatically during the summer. It depends on when the World Cup authorities decide on the timing for holding the World Cup.
The Government is very concerned about reports of abuses of migrant workers in Qatar and strongly deplores any such abuses. I did not hear the report the Deputy referred to, but I will listen to it. All countries should be fully compliant with international standards for labour protection and ensure that all workers have proper working conditions, which is a human right. Qatar has the highest ratio of migrants to citizens in the world. Nearly 88% of the total population is composed of foreign workers employed largely in construction, services and domestic work. The strong protection of workers' rights is particularly critical in this context. The presence of large numbers of migrant workers in the Persian Gulf area, especially in construction, is a long-standing phenomenon and does not relate solely to the World Cup.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the UN International Labour Organization have made it perfectly clear in their recommendations that Qatar must ensure its labour laws are amended to grant migrants the right to form and to join trade unions, access to proper grievance procedures and a minimum wage. They have also recommended a review of the foreign work sponsorship system which has been linked to abuse of migrant workers. The Government has called on the Qatari authorities to implement these recommendations to improve the situation of migrant workers and their families in the country. Qatar must take effective and urgent measures to ensure that adequate sanctions are applied to employers who impose forced labour. Qatar will be reviewed at the next session of the UN periodic review later this month and I expect that Ireland will intervene and make recommendations on the issue on this occasion.
It is critical that Qatar proves it is making real efforts to improve the protection of the rights of all workers, including construction workers, ahead of the FIFA World Cup scheduled for 2022. I welcome FIFA's promise to demand high standards of workers' rights and its recent request for a detailed report on improvements implemented following the visit of FIFA's president to the emirate last November. I met a number of Irish construction engineers who have significant numbers working for them. They are very happy to know that the rights given to those workers are as they should be.
The EU maintains an ongoing dialogue with the Qatari authorities regarding human rights, particularly migrant rights. The EU also liaises closely with the UN and the International Labour Organization on these issues on a regular basis. Most recently, an ad hoc delegation from the European Parliament visited Qatar last week. It comprised members of the committee on foreign affairs and of the sub-committee on human rights. They met the Prime Minister of Qatar and other government representatives as well as the supreme committee in charge of the World Cup preparations and discussed the situation of migrant workers and their rights. They also met with migrant workers to hear directly from them. The delegation expressed its concerns and supported recommendations that Qatar ratify relevant International Labour Organization conventions. The delegation was informed the Qatar will implement a comprehensive revision of the sponsorship system. Ireland will continue to monitor that closely. More broadly, the promotion and protection of migrant workers' rights throughout the world, including in Qatar, will remain a priority for this country and we will avail of every opportunity to raise the issue both bilaterally through the Irish embassy in Abu Dhabi, which is also accredited to Qatar, and through relevant multilateral channels, including the UN and EU human rights mechanisms. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue.
The Deputy mentioned the Middle East peace process. Direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which began last July at the initiative of the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, continue. The resumption of these negotiations is a positive step and is one which Ireland and the EU have warmly welcomed. We must continue to give our support to this process. There have been 20 meetings so far. We have all been encouraged by the seriousness that the negotiators have shown. Since the beginning of this year there has been a change of emphasis and a sharper focus on the issues. Mr. Kerry is preparing a framework document containing US proposals to focus work on the key issues for decision. It is expected to be revealed shortly. Clearly, the EU at European Council level will do everything it can to help this at political level with the wider public on both sides. As Deputy Martin knows, it goes back to the fundamental agreement to a two-state solution and the discussions always take place around that.
I agree with the Deputy that the situation in Syria is a human catastrophe. It is spilling over into Jordan and Lebanon. There are huge numbers of refugees on either side and this cannot continue. It must be dealt with. The conflict has intensified in recent weeks. The UN has stopped releasing estimates of fatalities.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in London, now reckons that 140,000 people have been killed. This represents a 40% increase in the last six months, so it is a catastrophe.
I welcome the approval of UN Resolution 2139 on the humanitarian situation in Syria by the UN Security Council, which we have been calling for since last autumn. This resolution makes absolutely clear the obligations and the duties on all parties, especially the Assad regime, to uphold humanitarian principles and international law. Ireland has contributed more than €14 million to humanitarian relief and we pledged a further €12 million at the donor conference organised by the UN in Kuwait at the beginning of the year. Funding is being provided to the Irish-based NGOs, such as GOAL, Oxfam, Plan Ireland, World Vision and Concern, for humanitarian assistance inside Syria and for Syrian refugees in host communities in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. Funding is also being provided by the regional development and protection programme, which is an initiative led by the European Commission and Denmark to support refugees and communities affected by the ongoing crisis in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq over the next three years. We increased support to host countries which we see as crucial to defeating the growing tension between host and refugee communities that could exacerbate the situation and extend this already entrenched and complicated conflict.
The horrific violations of human rights perpetrated against the Syrian people will have to be accounted for. We have consistently called on the Security Council to refer the many allegations of war crimes to the International Criminal Court. It is a matter of serious and deep regret that there was no progress on the establishment of a representative transitional executive at the recent Geneva II negotiations. The continued reports of violence against civilians served to underline the importance of the Geneva negotiations and of renewed efforts to get a transitional executive authority in Syria. We continue to monitor closely the verification mission aimed at eliminating Syria's chemical weapons stocks. Reports of recent delays have been a matter of concern and we urge that every effort is made to expedite the destruction of these chemical weapons. The international community cannot accept anything less than full Syrian compliance. We have contributed €200,000 in financial support for this mission, and we will contribute further where we can.
At the European Council meeting, one of the complications is that this mission in respect of chemical weapons is led by Denmark, and its first marine support assistance is given by the Russians. Members can understand the complications that can arise at the European Council following the Crimea and Ukraine business, when Russia is an essential part of the process for taking chemical weapons out of Syria.
The Taoiseach disgraced himself and betrayed the best instincts of fair mindedness in the Irish people when he visited the Gulf states in January and when he deliberately averted his gaze from the shocking crushing of workers' rights, human rights and women's rights. The Irish Daily Mirror is not a revolutionary newspaper and certainly would not have anything in common with the Socialist Party or the Committee for a Workers' International, but yesterday it ran a stunning headline, "Dying for the World Cup".
The Deputy is not allowed to display newspapers in the Chamber.
The newspaper outlined how in Qatar, 1,200 workers have been killed so far in the past two years in the death trap construction projects in preparation for the 2022 football World Cup. Amnesty International has reported a scandalous regime of the most grotesque abuse of migrant workers. The journalist who wrote yesterday's piece in the Irish Daily Mirror, Kevin Maguire, visited Qatar, like the Taoiseach, except that he went to see the reality on the ground and found the most squalid labour camps, where construction workers are forced to live in the most disgusting of conditions, some with no running water and open sewers. These are conditions that would have whoever was responsible sent to jail if they were housing animals in them, and rightly so. Amnesty International has found workers in the construction projects on 68 cent an hour, sometimes going unpaid for months, physically beaten and their passports taken by gangmasters so that they are made prisoners in Qatar.
I do not know why the Taoiseach referred to the cool weather he found there. In the summertime, these workers face work in temperatures as high as 120° Fahrenheit. Has the Taoiseach ever worked in conditions like that? I have not done so, but I have worked in conditions of 90° to 100° Fahrenheit on a construction site, and I can tell him that is murder in itself. Is it any wonder Kevin Maguire was told by one Nepalese worker: "We are treated like slaves, they don't see us as human and our deaths are cheap"? This is the country into which the Taoiseach breezed in January. He met the elites in their glittering towers. He did not tell them these towers were built on a sordid mire of worker and human exploitation and cruelty, and he uttered not a single word of objection. He has just told us that now.
I remind the Deputy that we are on Question Time.
In defending himself on this, the Taoiseach told The Irish Times that he wanted to focus on endorsing the credibility and integrity of Irish companies doing business. Is it not the case that he was concentrating exclusively on private profits of corporations rather than human rights?
When my Socialist Party colleague, Paul Murphy MEP, wrote to the Taoiseach to complain about this, the Taoiseach sent back a pro forma letter that he sent to other organisations, which is fine. However, he could not resist adding, in his own handwriting, a petty, coded put down: "Perhaps you should travel out there and speak to the Irish community - women and men - about their experience of doing business and employing people both in Ireland and the Gulf states. It might be of interest to you." In other words, the MEP should keep his mouth shut about human rights because there is business to be done.
Will the Taoiseach now take a stand? Will he make a public statement that will make world headlines and for the very best of reasons, because it will speak to the concern and the best instincts of hundreds of millions of soccer fans all over the world? Will he demand that FIFA, the international soccer authority, put the following ultimatum to the Qatari regime, that it has one month to get its house in order as far as workers' rights and human rights are concerned, and that it accept hundreds of workers' rights monitors and human rights monitors on the construction sites on the ground and in the camps where workers are being accommodated to see a transformation from this regime of slavery? Will the Taoiseach do that? Will he make such a call on FIFA, or otherwise call for the football World Cup to be moved unceremoniously out of this country with its dreadful regime of exploitation?
The purpose of my visit to the Gulf states was a trade mission with 87 Irish companies. I meant what I said to Paul Murphy MEP.
It is a revelation to speak to people from this country, some of whom have been out there for 25 years or more, who are working in their respective spheres or areas of activity in the states in question. I think it is important for standards to apply when trade is being done in both directions. As I have said already, this topic could be usefully discussed at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. It might also be useful for the Deputy to contact the members of the European Parliament delegation that went to Qatar last week. The MEPs in question had direct meetings with migrant workers and people who are in a position to ensure their rights and facilities are as they should be. Genuinely, I met a number of Irish contractors who are out there and are running a very good show, both for Irish workers and for labour recruited locally.
I know that international concerns have been expressed about the holding of the World Cup in excessive and extreme temperatures. I do not think it is physically suitable. I understand there have been discussions about changing the timing of the event. That is not a matter for me to be able to decide on. I want to say to Deputy Higgins, as I have already said to Deputy Martin, that the issue of human rights in general, and of women's rights in particular, is raised constantly by our ambassador. Along with Saudi Arabia and other countries, Ireland participates in the UN Human Rights Council. There is an appropriate time for everything. If I was going out on a mission to talk about human rights, it would be a different matter. That does not mean that various concerns and anxieties are not reflected as part of a general trade mission out there.
It is not a case of people keeping their silence. As I said to the MEP, it might be useful to visit the countries in question to understand how people from this country have gone there to employ significant numbers of local labourers to proper standards. I am not standing up here to say that everything is perfect in any country when it comes to the treatment of workers. We have a history in our own country of occasions when these things had to be improved radically. The situation needs to be monitored constantly to check that a good position applies. I am not saying that the situation is perfect in any of these places.
I believe the engagement with the Irish diaspora and with Irish business works both ways. I have met representatives of airlines and other companies that are doing business in both directions. They believe that real progress is being made. Many of these countries have come from a position of poverty in the last four decades to where they are now. It is a case of ensuring construction workers, particularly migrant workers, have their rights vindicated. I would never be afraid to stand up for that, but if the Deputy is asking me to change the 2022 World Cup from Qatar to somewhere else, I must inform him that I do not have the necessary authority or responsibility.
The Taoiseach could call on FIFA to give the Qatari authorities an ultimatum.
The Deputy has referred to a report. I would like to see the details of the European Parliament delegation's visit to Qatar last week.
We know what is going on.
They engaged directly with migrant workers in Qatar. Would it not be worth the Deputy's while, and my own while, to hear what the outcome of that visit was?
We know.
We need to read about who they meet, the conditions they came across and what the response was. I remind the House that the European Parliament consists of representatives of all EU member states, including Ireland.
We know about the horror that is going on.
The Deputy has a report in front of him.
The point is that we need to change it.
I do not have the findings of the direct engagement of the Members of the European Parliament with the migrant workers.
How can the Taoiseach sit down with these regimes?
It will be interesting to see what that report says. I would be happy to have it discussed at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade.
They should make his skin crawl.
I want to focus my supplementary questions on the Middle East peace process. Before I do so, I would like to add my voice to those who have raised real concerns about the plight of migrant workers who are preparing for the 2022 World Cup. Their conditions were recently described by The Guardian in London as "modern-day slavery". Surely we cannot tolerate that. I would like to join others in calling on the Government to raise this with FIFA and to propose that this soccer tournament should not go ahead in Qatar unless this situation is rectified. It should be held in a country that respects the rights of workers. Do I have enough time to raise the issues in Syria now as well?
Yes, of course.
We know the dreadfulness of the situation there. The third anniversary of the start of the Syrian Civil War was marked recently. It has been estimated that 200,000 people have been killed and millions of people have been scattered into refugee camps. There is a huge argument for the EU and the West as a whole to develop the need for dialogue and inclusivity. Even though Ireland is a small state, the Government can play a part in that process. The killing of civilians needs to stop and a real peace process needs to be put in place.
In general terms, I do not think the Government grasps the international importance of our own peace process. There are many imperfections and unfulfilled issues in that process, but it has brought the conflict to an end. The current political or other difficulties on this island are not going to end up in violence. The Government has a moral authority to speak to others on these matters. I am pleased that the Taoiseach has raised the expansion of Israeli settlements and other threats to the Middle East peace process. I actively encourage him to grasp the success we have had here and speak to others with that voice. For example, Martin McGuinness is currently in Colombia trying to help people there to develop dialogue and other main principles of peace-making.
I would like to look at what is happening in the Middle East. First of all, the talks are not going anywhere at all. The negotiation is not between equals. It is between the big power that is the Israeli Government and the small David that is the Palestinian Territories. Some 26 Palestinian prisoners were supposed to be released by the Israeli Government at the weekend, but that has not yet happened. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Abbas, has said he will leave the talks if these releases do not go ahead. At the start of the year, the Israeli Government announced the construction of 1,400 illegal housing units on Palestinian territory, which was deeply provocative. I have been there a number of times and I have seen these settlements. The word "settlement" might give the impression that these units are like something one might have seen in the so-called Wild West, but they are not like that at all. These huge modern skyscrapers are more like tourist conglomerates than anything else.
Israel's export trade to the EU is worth billions of euro each year. This gives us some leverage. I have consistently raised the Jerusalem report, which makes the argument that this leverage should be used.
There are clear breaches of international law and this goes on without any sanction or reprimand. We should use both our influence and moral authority within the European Union to move forward these matters.
I also wish to raise an issue that is entirely within the Government's authority. The Government recognises the diplomatic mission of the State of Palestine, but it does not it does not get the same privileges or status afforded to other diplomatic missions here. Why would it be treated differently given the ceangail between the people of this State and Palestine going back over a long period? I ask the Government to upgrade the status of the Palestinian mission here to that of an embassy and to sign an agreement to afford it the rights and privileges it deserves under the 1961 Vienna Convention. That would be a major gesture to the people in the Palestinian Territories and the Palestinian Authority, and would mark out where the Government, the people of the State and the people of this island stand on the matter. I believe that would get the support of all political parties in the Oireachtas and the support of the vast majority of the Teachtaí Dála and Seanadóirí. I ask that we upgrade the status of the Palestinian mission to that of an embassy and sign it up under the 1961 Vienna Convention so that it has the rights and privileges it deserves.
That is a matter on which the Tánaiste is reflecting. The question of embassies and consular offices, and facilities are handled after consideration. I will bring that to his notice following the Deputy raising it here. Ireland has always been seen to be very supportive of peaceful settlements and so on. We have made repeated interventions in respect of expansion of settlements. Many Members of the House from different parties have been to Gaza and the West Bank to visit communities and talk to the people. It has been a few years since I was there as an Opposition Member. It brings home the difficulties and challenges many people face. I recently spoke to a young engineer who has gone to work for a couple of years in Gaza on a contract related to water. It was a revelation.
In so far as we can assist the process started again by the US Secretary of State, Mr. Kerry, we will. There is always a series of complications when one goes there to see one strain against the other. I will raise the issue the Deputy mentioned with the Tánaiste for his consideration later this year when decisions on consular offices and embassy appointments are being made.
I have two questions. Is the Government's approach to the issue of human rights in Qatar and the Gulf States generally not a very serious abdication of the sort of ethical foreign policy that a State such as this should have? For a neutral State which is associated with opposing tyrannical regimes, imperial regimes and so on it is not good enough to say that we will hive off the issue of human rights to some UN committee, and then we will go off and talk about business and money. That is not an ethical approach to dealing with these regimes. The ethical approach is to ask whether it is acceptable to do business with despotic, brutal, vile, undemocratic regimes that trample on human rights and exploit workers in the vilest way. Should we do business with such states? We should not as it does not represent an ethical foreign policy and we want to live in an ethical world where trade is done with people who respect human rights.
On the specific issue of the World Cup, even FIFA's awarding of the World Cup to Qatar is mired in a corruption scandal because one of the senior FIFA figures has had to resign after it was discovered that he asked for €2 million from a leading Qatari figure who also had to step back from FIFA over the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar. Since then FIFA has now referred the matter of whether Qatar should be allowed to host the World Cup to its ethics committee. If it is good enough for FIFA to seriously question whether the World Cup should be hosted by Qatar, surely it is good enough for the Taoiseach to say that unless Qatar does something about the appalling conditions faced by migrant workers in its country it should be stripped of hosting the World Cup when everybody else is seriously debating that issue.
Did the Taoiseach discuss in his visit to the Gulf States, or is there any discussion more generally, over what is going on in Egypt where 549 people have-----
That is a separate question.
I asked if the Taoiseach raised it in Qatar.
It is not part of this group.
I asked if the Taoiseach raised it in Qatar. The Egyptian regime has condemned to death 549 people.
It is not part of the group of questions we are debating.
I asked if the Taoiseach discussed it in Qatar, which is part of the group of questions. Did he raise the issue of the Egyptian regime's decision to execute 549 people when human rights organisations across the world are pointing out that what it is doing is absolutely outrageous? Will he raise it and will he speak out about this appalling action by the Egyptian authorities?
Following the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar there have been revelations, the most damning of which is that up to 1,200 people have lost their lives as a result of the appalling situation pertaining to workers' rights and particularly those of migrant workers. Already that loss of life taints the World Cup. Down the line given what has happened there will be a major issue in terms of the morality of Qatar hosting the World Cup. The bribery issues are very serious, but most serious of all is that so many people have lost their lives. Reports project the loss of up to 5,000 or 6,000 lives by the time all the construction work is complete.
When he was there in January the Taoiseach indicated that he would support Qatar's efforts in terms of organising the World Cup and building the stadia, etc., that would be needed. Does he agree that he should withdraw that offer of support given the loss of 1,200 lives? He should also raise the issue at a European level. It needs to become an international issue, and European and global political leaders need to raise the issue with FIFA. What is occurring is unprecedented. Many people will not be looking forward to the World Cup given the number of lives lost already and the lives that are projected to be lost.
I again invite the Taoiseach to call on FIFA to issue an ultimatum to the Qatari regime and authorities that if there is not an immediate verifiable transformation in the grotesque exploitative conditions of workers, particularly those of migrant workers, it will withdraw the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar.
Does he agree this would be a powerful pressure point on this regime that could transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of grotesquely exploited workers?
He is right. We had it here. We had it with GAMA Construction, not to that extent, thankfully, but still pretty severe. However, through the pressure and outrage of ordinary working people and advocacy and strike action by those workers, they did get a fair measure of justice, though not the full measure by any means, and transformed horrific conditions into something approaching a workers' rights situation. Does the Taoiseach not agree this would be a huge achievement to bring about? Will he simply allow the interests of doing business and profit-seeking by private corporations, whether they are Irish or from elsewhere, to stop him from making such a call?
Does Deputy Adams wish to add a supplementary?
I just want to endorse that call. The main Opposition parties, the Technical Group and the Socialist Party are all calling upon the Government to take that approach and to call upon FIFA to do the right thing by the working poor who are building the stadiums.
I am not sure whether you have been there, a Ceann Comhairle, but when you travel through these places, you see they have emerged as really modern facilities in terms of office blocks and skyscrapers, and there has been quite an extraordinary scale of development in such a short time. The call here from Members is to not go on with the World Cup.
It might be more appropriate if they could verify that standards and workers' rights are adhered to and maintained, and see that this becomes part and parcel of modern development. It is all too easy to say, "Do not have the World Cup in Qatar", and all of the investment in jobs, construction and everything that goes with it will die. We had the winter games in Sochi in Russia despite the fact there were indications of difficulties there, and nobody called for end to that. We had the boycott of the Moscow games in the 1980s, I remember, with the invasion of Iraq.
It was Afghanistan, not Iraq. That is the wrong country.
It might be appropriate that we read the Amnesty report but I would also like to hear from the European Parliament directly, given it had a delegation out there last week talking to migrants. I have heard all the stories about confiscation of passports and people being crowded together in very small accommodation as they go about not just construction but other work in locations in the general region. As I said to Deputy Adams, this is an issue I will follow through on in terms of the reports I have here, including one from Amnesty International. However, as I said, I would like to see what the European Parliament delegation, made up of different parties, actually engaged with and the response they got from the migrant workers when they were out there.
Perhaps we can revisit this. It is, as I said, beyond my scope to declare the World Cup defunct and that it should move somewhere else, but there is a fundamental issue about which everybody can be concerned, which is the quality of facility and rights, and respect for those rights, for construction workers, not just in that locality but in so many others. As I said to Deputy Martin, there is a human catastrophe in Lebanon and Jordan, which is spilling into other countries. That is an issue with which global politics has to deal. Those rights of people have been trampled on and the lives of many taken away for no reason other than to hold on to territory and power. We will follow through with that and perhaps we might revisit it on a future occasion here.
