Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I offer Madam President an especial welcome on behalf of my party, Sinn Féin. I very much welcome her very thoughtful speech, which hit a lot of key points. She spoke about values in particular. I have seen her country expound those values at first hand at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Cyprus has an excellent team out there. You see them really punch above their weight in standing up on important issues such as the one Ms Demetriou mentioned in her speech, the Istanbul Convention and issues of gender equality and gender-based violence. Those values in respect of human rights, democracy and the rule of law are more important now than ever because they are very much under threat. We see that threat in our closest neighbour and, frankly, in Cyprus's closest neighbour as well. It is important that we speak out about these values. I send full solidarity to Ms Demetriou's country on the continued occupation of part of that country against the rules of international law. Her call for peaceful and constructive solutions to enable her country to be united is one that we should all support fully and comprehensively, as we certainly do.

I also recognise Ms Demetriou's very strong attachment to equality. It was very important to hear her speak about gender-based violence. As others have mentioned, it is an issue that has really raised its head in recent years but it has been with us for decades. Again, it is an issue that we must all work harder on. On equality here in terms of parliamentary representation, a commitment to gender quotas is particularly important. Ms Demetriou will note that Ireland has never had a female Taoiseach or a female Minister for Finance but we are hoping to change that in the coming years. We have made some improvements but we have more to do.

I congratulate Ms Demetriou. She has pointed out so much that we have in common. Again, the fact that we are small states in the European Union means that we need to collaborate. I believe Ms Demetriou has given us a very clear message of solidarity, co-operation and collaboration. Those are values we can all agree on. It is clear that we have a very good relationship. I salute Cyprus's ambassador and the team on the work they are doing. I believe our relationship can only go from strength to strength in the coming years. Again, I extend to Ms Demetriou a very warm welcome and wish her continued success during her stay in Ireland.