Did the Taoiseach's media-watching unit tell him about the splendid colour photograph printed in some daily newspapers of him sitting beside His Highness Sheik Khalifaand many other well-nourished emirs and princes of the kingdom of Bahrain? So snugly did he fit in with their excellencies that had he put on the traditional head-dress we would not have been able to tell him apart.

It was 47 degrees there.

That shows the practicality of the dress the people wear. The Taoiseach should perhaps have taken a leaf from their book in that respect if not in others.

Maybe so.

Several of the countries he visited raise serious questions about democratic, civil and human rights for their people. In Malaysia in particular police have recently broken up or prevented peaceful demonstrations and meetings, and have harassed and arrested opposition leaders. Did the Taoiseach raise these issues in his discussions with senior leaders there? Was this really a repeat of what Governments of which the Taoiseach was a part did? A ministerial colleague of his on going to Baghdad in the 1980s dealt with business in Baghdad, and only months after the Halabja massacre did not raise the monstrous crimes that Saddam Hussein was carrying out. Did he raise serious issues about peoples' civil rights or was it a matter, to quote W. B. Yeats, of "fumbling in the greasy till"?

In virtually all the countries he visited 95% of the population or more would have vehemently opposed the criminal invasion of Iraq by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. Did he discuss the situation in Iraq in any detail, and did any of the leaders on behalf of their peoples raise with him the logistical support which he and his Government gave to that criminal invasion and continue to give to the United States military for the ongoing occupation in Iraq, through the use of Shannon Airport for US troops?

The occasion for the photograph referred to by the Deputy was the opening of an Irish medical college for doctors, dentists and paramedics. There are about 650 people from the Gulf who are involved in education in this country. It is a huge tribute to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland that it can open a university of that status, as it is to the former president of the college, Mr. O'Malley, who moved out there and set up this college with a large number of Irish lecturers. It is a great achievement for the college and the ability to educate so many people in the Gulf rather than in Ireland will bear fruit in the future.

The Department of Foreign Affairs always puts items of civil rights and civil liberties on the agenda. In fairness to all of these countries, they are quite happy to explain their position and their side. I do not always agree with how they do things. In Malaysia, there are 98 members of parliament and 96 of them are in Government and two are in opposition. Obviously it is not similar to the system we——

That would not deter Deputy Joe Higgins.

A totalitarian State.

Sometimes this Parliament feels like that as well.

The Taoiseach without interruption.

A group that has one member almost gets the same amount of time as a group with 40 members. It also has that similarity. To be fair to them, they have different cultures, different ways of doing things and different systems. However, they do take criticism and the points have been made. They are all involved in their own way in reform. I discussed the Iraq issue with all of the leaders as I was interested in their views. While all of these countries are friends of America, they are all very concerned about the actions America took in the first place. They thought it was ill-advised, they saw the dangers in it and they worry about the region. It is interesting that all of the countries in the region have far more concerns about Iran than Iraq. That is the issue that is on their minds and for another day. I did talk to them about it. They are concerned about how the issue can now be resolved and how it can be brought back to normality.

Did they know about the Taoiseach's party?

All of these countries facilitate the United States in enormous ways. While they have differences, this is what happens. These are countries that are close to the United States and are friendly with them. The small support that we get is considered trivial to them. That is disappointing news for the Deputy.