It is appropriate to be able to pose this question in the aftermath of International Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January. I want to ask what the Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is doing to support the work of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation Holocaust education programme.

Sentiment score: 0.23

If we needed proof that an education programme is important, that was given to us in a recent survey undertaken by the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, with the involvement of an Irishman, Professor Gideon Taylor, son of a former distinguished Minister and Member of these Houses. As the Minister of State has pointed out, it was established that 10% of people believed that the Holocaust was a myth and 19% believed that the slaughter was exaggerated. We can never lose sight of the fact that two thirds of European Jews were slaughtered mercilessly, deliberately and in an industrial fashion during that Holocaust. The antisemitism we see today is linked to and caused by the atrocities experienced by the Jewish people then and in the many pogroms that happened beforehand. What else is being done by the Department to combat antisemitism and to ensure that we build the best possible understanding of what happened during the Holocaust, so that it will never, ever happen again?

Sentiment score: 0.21

I commend the Minister and the Government on what they are doing. It is really important work. When does the Minister of State imagine that this work will commence in the 600 schools around the country where it is going to be delivered? Does he think there is a possibility, given that children and young people are not just influenced by what happens and what they experience in school, but particularly by what they experience in their homes, that there is a need to educate some members of the public who are inculcating false thoughts, ideas and motivations in their children? Would it be possible to have some sort of public media campaign via the Department around the period of International Holocaust Memorial Day, which would drive home to people the extent of the slaughter and the extent of man's inhumanity to man that happened at that stage?

Sentiment score: 0.14

Deputy Ardagh and I are trying to establish what the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is doing regarding the repression of civil society and democratic opposition and the undermining of democracy and the rule of law in Russia.

Sentiment score: -0.62

For the past four years, the world has been focused on Russian aggression and the appalling war in Ukraine perpetrated on a foreign, sovereign people by the megalomaniac that is Putin. We have lost sight of what may be happening within Russia itself, and that is understandable. When we think of opposition in Russia, we think of the late, brave Alexei Navalny, whose second anniversary will be marked next week. We are aware of the commitments and the strength of his wife Yulia in the aftermath of his death and her commitment to carry on the campaign. Prosecutors in Russia have banned 78 organisations as undesirable, including prominent human rights groups. Human Rights Watch itself was designated undesirable. What we can do on our own is very limited. Will the Minister of State tell us the degree to which there is active engagement between ourselves and our European partners to support opposition and to support civil society organisations in Russia?

Sentiment score: -0.07

It is interesting that the Minister of State talks about stooges. There are 450 members of the Russian Duma. One wonders how many of them are actual puppets or stooges because we have not heard very much in the West about any opposition from the ranks of the Duma to the activities of Putin and his foul regime. One would wonder how, on the law of averages, among 450 people, there are not, if even by chance, some people who have some moral integrity and who might have some of the courage that Navalny displayed when he literally put himself in a situation where he was inevitably going to be murdered, as he eventually was by the Putin regime. I reiterate it is vitally important, through whatever measures possible, that Europe supports those who are trying to build a normal, decent, civilised society in Russia and to save the people of Russia from the monsters that control them at present.

Sentiment score: 0.31

87. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade her assessment of the current situation in Belarus; if she has had any engagement with the Belarus government-in-exile; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8280/26]

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What is the Minister of State's assessment of the situation in Belarus, where the dictator Lukashenko is an ally and, indeed, puppet of the Putin regime? How does the Minister of State feel about the situation there at present?

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I compliment the Minister of State on the positive and comprehensive response. I note that on 13 December Belarusian authorities released 123 prisoners following negotiations by the US Administration, which had agreed to lift a sanction on Belarusian potash. The majority of prisoners were sent to Ukraine, and a group of nine sent to Lithuania. Most of those released had been prosecuted and imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of their human rights. One of those released, Maria Kalesnikava, has since given an interview with the Financial Times in which she called for EU engagement with Belarus on the basis that the lack of it only serves to drive Belarus closer to Russia. Another of the released prisoners, Ales Bialiatski, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, has also called on the EU to enter talks with President Lukashenko. I know the Government and Europe would be walking a tightrope on this particular matter but this suggestion has been made by two influential people who are intimately involved in the situation in Belarus and are advocating greater EU engagement. How does the Minister of State respond to that and what are his thoughts on how Ireland and the EU together might proceed?

Sentiment score: 0.20

I agree with the Minister of State because it is a tightrope situation. I think most of us in this country would look to what was said by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is a charismatic leader many of us in this House have met. She displayed tremendous courage in taking up the baton after her husband was arrested and has effectively been running a Belarusian Government in exile. She has said the European Union sanctions have a much stronger impact and must remain in place until long-term changes are achieved, including an end to the regime’s involvement in the Ukraine war, the restoration of Belarus's sovereignty and its transformation into a democratic economy, which would appear to be a long way away. She said: Without sanctions and international isolation, the Lukashenka regime would not have begun releasing political prisoners. It is not acting out of humanity – sanctions hurt, isolation hurts, and he understands that he has reached a dead end. That is why he is willing to hand over even his most dangerous opponents in exchange for relief. But lifting or substantially easing sanctions against the regime is dangerous, as it directly strengthens Russia: Belarus’ economy works for Russia’s war machine, Belarus is used as a route to circumvent sanctions, and its enterprises are involved in weapon production. We know where the weapons are going. Does the Minister anticipate that the current level of EU sanctions will be maintained, or, indeed, possibly strengthened?

Sentiment score: -0.15

I want to make a brief comment as co-ordinator of the Ireland-Morocco Parliamentary Friendship Group. In recent times, I have become increasingly aware that an ever-increasing number of countries have moved to a position where they see the solution to this intractable problem, which must be resolved, having regard to sovereignty and human rights. More and more countries, including many of our European colleagues, see the resolution to the problem resting in establishing Western Sahara's autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. That seems to the be the proposal that is winning ever-increasing support. It is something that I raised with the Minister for foreign affairs here some weeks ago.

Sentiment score: 0.19

I am not on that one.

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