Humanitarian Aid
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown

We can all agree that the history of this part of Africa, from the pillaging days of King Leopold, to the decades after, to the time when Irish peacekeepers lost their lives there and to the days of Zaire and beyond, has been absolutely horrendous and has been marred by conflict, disease and cruelty. To be quite frank, there was cruelty on the part of western partners as well as domestic actors. Unfortunately, this is the latest chapter of a very vicious conflict that is compounding the escalation of an outbreak of a disease that many people cannot fathom the severity of.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control assesses the infection risk for people living in Ireland and elsewhere in the EU to be very low. However, as of 28 June, Democratic Republic of Congo had reported 1,274 confirmed cases, including 360 deaths. In Uganda, 20 confirmed cases have been reported, including deaths. One confirmed case was reported in France on 24 June. This outbreak continues to spread.
The deteriorating condition of health systems due to the removal of development assistance is certainly having a serious impact and gives rise very real concern, not just on the part of the Irish Government but also among many of our partners. The CEOs of Oxfam Ireland and Trócaire have written about this very recently.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02