This morning, we learned the very distressing and alarming news that a 19 year old Dublin man has gone on hunger strike in an Egyptian jail. Ibrahim Halawa was born in the Coombe. He went to Holy Rosary national school in Firhouse and then to Rockbrook College in Rathfarnham. He finished his education in the Institute of Education on Leeson Street. He is a Dubliner.

Ibrahim has been detained for two years without trial. He was 17 when he was arrested so he never collected his leaving certificate results. His trial has been postponed on four separate occasions. He is held in an adult prison in an oppressive and cramped cell with 40 other people. Every morning when he wakes he hears the screams of people being tortured. He has been beaten. The Irish consul in Egypt has witnessed his injuries. He has been denied medical attention. If convicted, Ibrahim faces the very real prospect of life imprisonment.

Amnesty International has done considerable work on his case and has established beyond any doubt that Ibrahim Halawa is a prisoner of conscience. It firmly believes that he has been detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly.

What would the Tánaiste or any of us do if this was our child? I believe we would go to hell and back to secure his release. We would demand that the Taoiseach pick up the phone and tell the Egyptian Prime Minister to release this Irish citizen. That is what the Australian Prime Minister did to secure the release of journalist Peter Greste who shared a cell with Ibrahim. He did what any leader would do to protect the rights of a citizen. He intervened directly and decisively and secured the release of Peter Greste.

Will the Tánaiste join me today in calling on the Taoiseach to pick up the telephone to the Egyptian Prime Minister and call for the immediate release of Ibrahim? Will she also tell us whether she agrees with Amnesty International that Ibrahim is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Anybody who has read or heard about this issue through the media, or who has had an opportunity to meet people with a deep interest in this case, as I have, including members of his immediate family, whom I met briefly, would want to see Ibrahim Halawa at home in the bosom of his family in Ireland. We know that he went to Egypt to see his extended family when he was 17 and was there at the time of the Arab Spring, when there was a great deal of demonstration and unrest and associated events.

It is regrettable that the Egyptian authorities have not been in a position to process the various legal issues. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, with whom I have discussed the issue, other Ministers, and in particular, our ambassador and consular staff in Egypt, have maintained constant contact with Ibrahim and the Egyptian authorities to ensure that, notwithstanding the difficult circumstances he is in, the Egyptian authorities are aware of the deep level of concern about this case in Ireland, which remains a priority for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Officials at the embassy in Cairo are monitoring and closely following the case. Mr. Halawa has received more than 40 consular visits since he was first detained, the most recent of which took place earlier this week. As with all hearings in his case, officials from the embassy were in attendance. I understand the case may come up again on 2 August. In the meantime, officials in the Department will remain in constant contact.

One of the approaches that may help to resolve this case would be if Mr. Halawa's bail application were accepted. The Government has been happy to support the bail application. I use the forum of the Dáil to urge the Egyptian authorities to consider the case of a teenager visiting Egypt with his extended family who became caught up in some of the events occurring in that country at the time and has since been languishing in prison under varying conditions that are of deep concern to everybody.

I commend Amnesty International on taking such a close interest in this case. It is a matter of concern to all of us that an Irish citizen should be in this position. I have spoken about the case with other members of the Government and I hope all of the work that is being done, particularly by our diplomatic officials and through a series of diplomatic channels, will result in Mr. Halawa being returned home safely to his family in Dublin.

The reason this young man's detention has been so drawn out and harrowing is precisely that the Government has not prioritised his safety, welfare and return. I have been speaking to members of the Halawa family and they are not convinced or satisfied that the Government has acted fully and appropriately to secure the safety and freedom of one of our citizens. To visit Mr. Halawa on 40 occasions may sound like an impressive statistic on the part of the Irish system but even if he received 140 visits, it would not be worth a candle to this young man if he continues to be detained in an Egyptian prison.

I asked the Tánaiste two specific questions, both of which she sidestepped. First, I asked her to join me in calling on the Taoiseach to make direct contact with the Egyptian Prime Minister and demand the release of Mr. Halawa. It seems that only this level of intervention will work in this case. In my second question, I did not ask the Tánaiste to commend Amnesty International but to accept, on the floor of the Dáil, the organisation's findings by acknowledging that Ibrahim Halawa is a prisoner of conscience. Unless we have this level of decisive thinking and action from the Government, this traumatic case will drag on and on.

Mr. Halawa's mother visits him every week, having moved to Egypt since he was detained to be close to her son. She does not have any contact with Ibrahim on these visits and sees him behind wire. She cannot comfort or console him or give him a hug. The family is distraught and concerned for Ibrahim's health, physical safety and mental health. The case has reached the point where this young man has undertaken a hunger strike and his life hangs in the balance. The Government has been at best tepid in its approach to securing his safety and freedom. What is needed is the direct intervention of the Taoiseach.

Hear, hear.

I call on the Taoiseach to lift a telephone today, contact the Egyptian Prime Minister and state categorically that we demand the release of an Irish citizen, the Dublin man, Ibrahim Halawa. I want the Tánaiste to make the same call and I ask her not to equivocate or fudge the issue because the case is much too serious for that.

I thank Deputy McDonald for her concern about Mr. Halawa. If she wants him to be released, it does not help his case for her to disregard the work that has been done by Irish officials on a continuous basis. It is very easy for the Deputy to come into the House and scoff on almost any issue. She scoffs at the work of the officials in question and the idea that they have visited Mr. Halawa 40 times.

They do that in all international cases.

It is very easy to pick up a telephone.

It does not become her to do that.

That is an outrageous statement.

I do not know if she is familiar with how the legal and political systems work in Egypt but our officials have worked extremely hard. Last week, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Taoiseach met at length members of the Halawa family and went through the case with them in great detail.

Has the Taoiseach demanded a meeting with the Egyptian President whose name, incidentally, is el-Sisi?

From her comments, it is clear that members of the family also met Deputy McDonald either before or after that meeting. Everybody in Ireland is deeply concerned about the position in which this young man finds himself and wants to see him home in Dublin.

The Aussies got their man out.

We have a foreign affairs service so as to have a resolution to these types of extremely distressing cases. As I stated, I commend Amnesty International and want the Government to continue its detailed work to have this young man released. The Deputy wants me to enter into negotiations on the floor of the Dáil. I want to focus on what will see this young man released but she has other ideas. I do not know whether she accepts that Egypt is a country with a separate government and legal systems. As such, some respect must be shown for the legal processes of that country.

The Tánaiste should answer the question she was asked and the Taoiseach should pick up a phone.

It is a pity Sinn Féin did not pick up a phone over the past 40 years.

Given the gravity of this case, I insist that the Tánaiste answer the question. The reality is that what secured the release of an Australian citizen was direct contact, prime minister to prime minister. I ask the Tánaiste to answer my question.

I must call Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan.

I would like the Tánaiste to answer the question I put to her.

The Deputy must resume her seat when the Chair is on his feet. If she is not satisfied with the replies to her questions, she may raise the matter with the Office of the Ceann Comhairle.

Deputy Stagg should shut up.

You lot tried to shut me up before but you were not able to do it.

A boy of 19 years of age is on hunger strike and that is Deputy Stagg's response.

Sinn Féin is making a political football out of him. It has some neck.

The Government has some neck given that it will not pick up a phone.

Are you still torturing people in Northern Ireland?

Deputy Stagg should cop on and grow up.

Order, please. I have called Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan.