Absolutely.

The Senator's position of special rapporteur is similar, albeit in a different context.

The Senator was in that position with his own views and those of the organisations of which he is a member.

I am not saying they are directly comparable and I am not accusing the Senator of conflicts of interest. To be honest, the Senator in this House has accused people of a conflict of interest and I am not clear exactly what the conflict of interest is. I do not believe he has specified it. He has made allegations that people are in the pay of some organisations while also doing the work of the UN. He has not substantiated those allegations.

I heard the Senator mention the Soros foundation on a number of occasions.

I am very pleased and happy-----

I reject any allegation that I have disrespected the House because I spoke only when it was my turn. I thank the Chair. I am in the hands of the Chair, of course, but I found the ruling difficult. People like the staff I mentioned are doing incredible work. They are representing our country. The person the Senator mentioned is extremely highly qualified. NGOs and private foundations can make a contribution to human rights and the Human Rights Council, but there are a small number of countries, notably the Netherlan…

We are providing funding to make sure that is possible.

I have not heard a specific allegation that somebody has had a conflict of interest. I have heard it stated but, as far as I can see, there has been nothing-----

This year we provided €1.965 million in unearmarked funding to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Achieving the sustainable development goals in respect of protecting human rights requires collective action. To this end, we are a strong supporter of multilateralism and core flexible funding to enable our multilateral partners to plan and manage resources effectively. In February, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, joined an initiative led by the Netherlands calling on the UN Sec…

I thank Senator Doherty for raising this issue and for all her work on it in her previous role. The cost of disability is the extra cost faced by people with a disability in their day-to-day lives that others in society do not face. This extra cost is a direct result of the person's disability and would not arise otherwise. Research conducted in Ireland and internationally over many years has shown that there can be significant costs associated with disability. As the Senator is aware, to gain a better understandin…

I thank the Senator for her comments. The Government is keen to address the concerns raised by the people who live the daily reality of disability and it will use the results of this research to inform measures to address the issue of cost. People with disabilities have widely differing needs and the extra costs of disability do not arise to the same extent in every case. Basic standard income support is unlikely to address properly the costs incurred by those most severely limited by disability. As we have said, m…

I visited Lithuania on 27-28 October for a number of bilateral engagements. Ireland has a close relationship with Lithuania and I availed of the visit to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Lithuania. A number of issues were discussed during the visit, including the situation on the Lithuanian border with Belarus, the situation in Belarus, the rule of law, EU-UK relations and the Convention on the Future of Europe. I am very grateful for the solidarity of Lithu…

I have to be honest, my visit to the border was an unsettling experience. I could say the same for my Lithuanian colleagues as well. They are dealing with a new situation. They certainly are not used to this. I am very pleased that they are engaging with civil society, in particular the Red Cross. Ireland responded to the migrant crisis by providing €100,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which launched an operation through the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund, DREF, to help refugees in Lithuania. I…

The strong interest shown in this House at all times, including during these questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and me, will be of great encouragement to people in Belarus. We are deeply cognisant of the migrant crisis and are working on the humanitarian aspects of it, which are crucial. We have also shown complete solidarity with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in terms of the crisis they are facing. This is new to them and not something they are used to dealing with. From my visit to Lithuania, I know the…

It is happening in this country.

It is very important.

I have no problem with that whatever. However, many questions were raised by Members who had to go to other meetings. This slot might provide an opportune time to reply to those questions as well. That was certainly the practice when we sat in the convention centre, although there may have been only one Member left in the entire place. I am in the Acting Chairman's hands.

No, because I will not have finished answering my questions.

I am in the Chairman's hands.