On Monday night the Spanish high court jailed without bail two Catalan civil society leaders. They are being prosecuted for organising peaceful demonstrations in the run-up to the 1 October independence referendum. This is totally reprehensible and a serious escalation of the Spanish state's clampdown on the Catalan people. As the Bills that had been scheduled for today have been cleared, I call on the Government to make provision for a debate. Sinn Féin has written to the Business Committee asking for statements to be allowed on this serious and escalating matter to be held this evening. I appeal to the Government to make provision for such a debate this evening. I am also seeking a response from the Taoiseach as to whether he will condemn these actions by the Spanish state.

The Government view on this is that the way in which issues in respect of Catalonia are being dealt with by the Spanish Government must happen within the law, within Spanish law. While there is significant tension in respect of these issues, we have repeatedly said that we want to encourage sides towards dialogue to reduce tension. That is where the focus should be. This is primarily an issue for a sovereign member state within the European Union to behave within the law and the Spanish Constitution. This is the approach we have taken and we will stick with it.