2026-07-02

10. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether she is aware of very serious concerns about the fairness of the prosecution and trial of an Irish citizen (details supplied); whether she has raised concerns with the German Government; whether she will send an observer to the trial; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50321/26]

11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to exchanges with this Deputy in Dail Éireann on 21 May 2026 with regard to the trial of a person (details supplied), the measures that have been put in place to ensure the fair oversight of the trial; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50271/26]

Daniel Tatlow-Devally faces trial in Germany due to allegedly being on the site of a German subsidiary of an Israeli arms manufacture, Elbit Systems, and allegedly damaging property. I raised this issue with the Minister's predecessor. The conditions of the trial and detention are of huge concern, not only to Mr. Tatlow-Devally, but also his co-defendants. He is subject to 23-hour lock-ins, has been denied phone calls with his family and has limited access to lawyers. There is huge concern about the safety and fairness of the trial and the conditions of detention. It is important that the Government be vocal on it.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 11 together. This matter has been raised on a number of occasions by the Deputy and other colleagues. At the outset, I assure the Deputies that my colleagues across our consular teams and I are closely following the case and engaging with Mr. Tatlow-Devally and his family on a regular basis. My Department, in particular our Consulate General in Munich, supported by our embassy in Berlin and the consular directorate in Dublin, has been providing consular assistance since September 2025 when we were first notified of the case. Furthermore, I have raised this issue directly with the State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Dr. Thomas Steffen, when I met him in May. A dedicated consular officer in the Consulate General in Munich has been assigned to provide consular assistance and support Mr. Tatlow-Devally and his family. Staff in the consulate, including the consul general and deputy consul general, have undertaken six consular visits to him in prison. The most recent visit was earlier this week on Tuesday, 30 June. These visits are an important opportunity to assess the conditions of the detention. I fully appreciate that the prison has a 23-hour lock-up. It is the same for all prisoners in the prison. At the same time, that is a substantial amount of time. The visits provide an opportunity for Mr. Tatlow-Devally when meeting with our team to raise any concerns about his treatment with us. In turn, we have kept his family informed about these visits and remain in direct contact with them. I am not aware that he has been denied phone calls with his family. My last understanding was that there had been regular engagement and opportunity for engagement. Officials in the consular directorate of my Department and Munich are working to facilitate a visit to Mr. Tatlow-Devally by a number of Deputies. We have been advocating for and supporting him in whatever way we can in respect of engagement not just with the family, but also with others who wish to visit. We are liaising with the relevant German authorities with a view to obtaining the necessary visit permissions and will engage directly with Deputies in that regard. The decision as to whether to permit visits is one for the German authorities. It has been made clear to us that this is something that should be possible. We hope this would be followed through on. My Department will continue to provide all appropriate consular assistance to Mr. Tatlow-Devally and his family. As I previously outlined, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations defines the parameters of consular assistance in international law, which is, in turn, reflected in my Department and our consular assistance charter. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and its embassies and consulates are precluded from intervening in the judicial and legal process of another country. However, when a citizen is on trial abroad, their rights and interests have to be represented, including by their defence lawyers, as I know is the case in this instance. A number of trial dates have been set for the coming weeks. The last time we spoke about this in the House, dates had not been set and there was concern about that. Two hearings have taken place this week and further hearings are scheduled for tomorrow, 3 July. There will be subsequent hearings on 22, 24, 27 and 29 July. There are further dates out to January 2027. My officials will of course continue to follow developments very closely. I have asked that they continue to keep me updated while ensuring that regular engagement continues with Mr. Tatlow-Devally and his family, whom I appreciate are under huge stress.

At the heart of this is an increasing trend, not just in Germany, but in other countries as well, of using legislation initially intended for organised crime to prosecute climate activists and Palestine activists and, in several respects, dampen down political criticism and protests. There is a similar situation in Britain with regard to Palestine Action. When the relevant legislation was introduced 15 years ago, people raised concerns and asked whether it could be used to prosecute Greenpeace and so on. Those concerns were dismissed out of hand by the Ministers at the time. Lo and behold, political organisations are now being targeted by that legislation. We see the same here. The conditions in which Mr. Tatlow-Devally is being held are not acceptable. I am sure the Minister will agree with that. There is a knee-jerk assumption that European countries will have fair trials, and that is fine - that is the baseline assumption in these institutions. At the end of the day, there is a concern about a fair trial. The Minister said she had raised this matter with the state secretary. What response was she given? What is Germany going to do to ensure there is a fair trial and decent conditions in advance of that?

All of the evidence suggests that an Irish citizen, Daniel Tatlow-Devally, along with four others, is being denied a fair trial by another European state. I believe the Minister has a letter from a senior counsel. The letter refers to the fact that no audio recording of what is happening is permitted or provided by the court, there is no official stenographer, and the defendants cannot bring their own stenographer and have been refused permission to engage a professional note-taker. The letter went on to say that interpretations were electronically transmitted to the accused in a way that prevented their representatives and the court from hearing what was being said and that these communications were not merely secretive and kept from lawyers during the hearing, but were not recorded, so they could never be subsequently checked by anyone. The letter also stated that there was no way for prosecution or defence lawyers, the court, human rights monitors or the Government to check for translation accuracy and no way for the defence to correct mistakes at any time. There are limitations in terms of the communication of the defendants with their lawyers. At the very least, will the Government send legal observers to the trial tomorrow and on 22 July? The State needs to be represented there to observe what is happening to an Irish citizen.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to comment on the type of legislation or charges that are being taken in another member state. We expect that any other European country would follow fair procedures and rules. That has to be a given and is exactly what I have raised directly with my colleague. Concerns have been raised with us. In terms of the response, my colleague, the Minister, has said he would engage and relay our concerns or raise the fact that we had raised this particular issue. I appreciate that the conditions in the prison are strict. The rules apply to all prisoners, not just the individual whom Deputies have mentioned or those who were arrested with him. They are all confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. I am told he has access to a gym, prison library and reading materials, as well as there being televisions in prisoners' rooms. I appreciate that this is not an ideal scenario for anybody, but he is in a prison and the conditions are strict and apply to everybody. I am very clear that we are keeping a very clear focus on the trial and engage regularly with the family. Our consular teams have also regularly engaged with Mr. Tatlow-Devally to make sure that the conditions he has been kept in our, insofar as is possible, are appropriate. Obviously, when someone is in prison, there will be strict conditions applying, but we want to ensure he is being treated in the most humane and fairest way possible. That engagement will continue. In terms of legal representation, any issues that may be raised directly relating to the trial are a matter for the legal team to raise. That is what is happening and there is a legal team working to support Daniel. I am keeping a close eye on the situation and have asked my officials to engage regularly with me on it as the trial, which is only starting, proceeds. We will continue to keep in regular contact with the legal team.

The Minister said all prisoners experience the same conditions. In regard to telephone calls, I outlined my understanding of the situation. If it is not the case, I accept that. My understanding is that calls are constrained in terms of times when they can happen and there have been occasions when they have been denied. I will double-check that.

I am happy to get back to the Deputy on that if it is the case.

We can engage in correspondence. I might be mistaken but that is my understanding of the situation. In relation to prison conditions and the situation for other prisoners, the question is for what reason those other prisoners are detained. Is it appropriate that Daniel Tatlow-Devally and his co-defendants are in a prison of this kind for damaging property? That is fundamentally the charge at hand but it has escalated because the authorities are using legislation that was intended for use against organised crime. That is the context, and the question is whether his detention under those conditions is appropriate. The Minister said it needs to be a given that there be a fair trial. So many things hinge on that assumption. The question of whether countries have a fair trial system is part of the assessment process for new EU member states. Many regulations hinge upon it. However, what if it is not a given? That is the fundamental point. That is why having a State representative in place to monitor the trial is important. Will the Minister agree to that?

Fundamentally, I do not accept that the denial of the right of an Irish citizen to a fair trial is a matter just for his or her legal team. I just do not accept that. It is a concern of the State if an Irish citizen is, in effect, being railroaded through a show trial. The State needs to be represented by an observer at that trial to see what is happening. Deputy Boyd Barrett has been organising a delegation of representatives to go there on 22 July. Deputies Farrell and Duncan Smith are going, as are Lynn Boylan MEP and Senator Stephenson. I hope others will join them. However, the State itself, and the Minister, need to be represented there in an observer capacity. The senior counsel I mentioned states in the letter I referenced: It does not strike me from what I have seen that the trial is in conformity with either EU law or the European Convention on Human Rights. Obviously, the Government can take a different view but I do not see how that view can be properly formed other than on the basis of a first-hand observation since there is no independent record being created of what is happening. We need observers for the Irish State on the next occasions.

I stress again that it is not appropriate for me as Minister to suggest or dictate where somebody should be detained. I appreciate that people have a view on the prison this individual is in and the conditions under which he is being kept. It is the same situation for all prisoners in that particular prison. It is not for me or anybody here to dictate or decide whether somebody is appropriately placed or otherwise, and nor is it appropriate to comment on the type of legislation under which the person is being charged. If there is a sense or a view that the trial is not being conducted appropriately, we will respond accordingly. My officials, whom I have asked to engage directly with me on this, are keeping a very close eye on the situation. We are engaging directly with Daniel and his family. As we know, he has direct engagement with his legal team on this matter and a trial is due to start soon. I will monitor the situation and engage directly with my officials on it as things progress.