The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has criticised the Taoiseach and trade minister Richard Bruton for failing to raise human rights concerns during a recent trade delegation to various gulf states. In a letter to the Taoiseach, ICTU general secretary David Begg said the official delegation should have used the opportunity to draw attention to rights abuses in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Although he recognised the importance of trade discussions, Begg said he was disappointed at the Taoiseach’s statement that the talks were “not an appropriate forum to raise human rights concerns.”

There have been serious and widespread human rights violations in all three of the countries visited, including breaches of international labour conventions.