I propose to take Questions Nos. 166 and 167 together.
Firstly, as we mark the second anniversary of those tragic events, allow me to reiterate my sympathies to the families of the 43 students who disappeared in Iguala, Mexico in September 2014. Those families need and deserve answers, and it is critically important that a full and comprehensive investigation of their disappearance be carried out.
Ireland, along with its EU partners, has urged the Mexican government to ensure that a comprehensive investigation into the events in Iguala in September 2014 takes place, and to continue to take steps to address human rights challenges in Mexico.
Ireland fully supports the work of the Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to investigate the disappearances. I welcome the agreement reached earlier this month between the Mexican authorities and the GIEI on a mechanism to follow up on the recommendations made by the GIEI in its two reports of its investigations.
My Department has provided over €1.2 million in funding to the IACHR since 2005. During the visit of Mr Emilio Álvarez Icaza, the IACHR Executive Secretary, to Dublin in March of this year, my officials discussed with him the Iguala case and assured him of our support for the continued work of the GIEI.
The broader issue of disappearances in Mexico continues to be of grave concern. I am aware of the troubling statistics quoted by the Deputy.
Ireland and other EU Member States engage with the Mexican authorities on human rights on an ongoing basis. In particular the EU uses the High-Level Dialogue on Human Rights, the High-Level Political Dialogue and the Security and Justice Dialogue, to raise issues related to human rights, rule of law and security with the Mexican authorities. These fora allow for open and frank discussions on human rights and related citizen security issues in Mexico and the EU.
The sixth session of the High-Level Dialogue on Human Rights between the EU and Mexico was held in June 2016 in Brussels. Both sides agreed on the importance of continued cooperation to effectively address challenges in the area of human rights, particularly on issues such as the rule of law and the fight against impunity, missing and disappeared persons, torture, discrimination, migration, and the protection of vulnerable groups, human rights defenders and journalists.
EU member states are to the fore in funding projects led by national and international NGOs aimed at tackling impunity and improving the protection of human rights in Mexico. For its part, Ireland has also provided support to civil society and missionary organisations for development projects to improve, amongst other things, the human rights situation in Mexico.
