During a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committe on European Affairs, I said: We were very impressed by the Minister’s recent visit to Sudan to seek the release of two GOAL workers, one of whom is an Irish citizen. In the past when kidnappings took place, they were taken off the agenda very quickly. I remember the time when Don Tidey was kidnapped many years ago; his colleagues had to go out ten days later to seek publicity because the matter had been taken off the agenda. The same has happened more recently in the case of others...

Following his efforts in Sudan, does the Minister consider there is anything the European Union can do to put the kidnapping of two GOAL workers back on the agenda? As somebody working on behalf of the Irish victim, does the Minister consider there is anything that can be done at a European level? I fear such events are quickly taken off the agenda and almost forgotten.

My second query concerns President Barroso who has come out very strongly in today’s edition of the Financial Times looking for a vote next week. I understand all 27 member states are supporting his nomination as President for the next five years. The vote will take place at the European Parliament on 16 September. Can anything further be done with regard to his nomination or is the matter out of the hands of the Commission and entirely in those of the European Parliament? It is a matter of seeking a simple majority? If he does not achieve this, will other candidates come into play? The French Prime Minister, Mr. Fillon, has been proposed as a likely alternative but perhaps it is not an occasion on which the Minister can comment as the issue may have been passed.

The Minister spoke about the importance of climate change in the world economy and to the world’s population. The WTO and related issues are in danger of being taken off the agenda. It had high priority up until last December. The world’s future will depend to a very large extent on trade talks which I fear have slipped from the agenda. The danger is they will not return to it. Perhaps it is up to the European Union to decide to take the next step.

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