Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo the words of Teachta Adams and call on the Taoiseach to raise the case of Ibrahim Halawa, a constituent of mine, at the meeting. Yesterday the European Commission announced plans to launch its own European border and coast guard system. The plans envisage a reserve pool of 1,500 border guards who can be deployed on the EU's external borders without the consent of the host state, if needs be, which is unprecedented. Disturbingly, the plans suggest that dissenting EU states may end up in court or face as yet undefined sanctions if they refuse to let the European Commission dispatch guards to their national borders. This is an extremely worrying development which strips member states of their sovereignty. I ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to outline his views on this matter. I understand that this secondary legislation requires a positive opinion based on a qualified majority from a committee composed of experts from the 28 EU states. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm that Ireland will vote against this unprecedented legislation which is incompatible with national sovereignty.

The aforementioned plan is yet another knee-jerk reaction from the EU to the biggest refugee crisis that Europe has faced since the Second World War. A two year relocation scheme to dispatch 160,000 arrivals in Greece and Italy to other member states has also stalled. Only 64 asylum seekers have been officially relocated from Greece and 144 from Italy so far this year. That is an appalling statistic in the context of the thousands of people landing in Greece and Italy every week. The EU is trying to create a fortress Europe and is attempting to pull down the shutters and pretend that it can wish away this crisis. It is this naive policy which encourages dangerous sea journey across the Mediterranean. Official estimates put the number of migrants and asylum seekers who died in the Mediterranean this year at 3,671.

The EU is attempting to use Turkey as Europe's gatekeeper and is ignoring serious human rights violations. Today Amnesty International condemned the Turkish authorities for detaining scores of refugees, including from Iraq and Syria, since September and abusing and pressuring them to return home, in clear breach of international law. The EU is setting aside any concerns about the growing authoritarianism of Turkey's Government and has promised €3 billion in aid for refugees, along with a package of political goodies. It is also ignoring the fact that Turkey, in its haste to see President Bashar al-Assad toppled, is letting Jihadist fighters cross its border, some of whom have gone on to join Daesh, or ISIS. The Turkish authorities unlawfully arrested two journalists from an opposition newspaper that reported on this story and charged them with espionage. The Turkish authorities are also attacking Kurdish militants who have been fighting Daesh and have been involved in serious human rights violations in Kurdish majority areas in Turkey. This includes the reported summary execution of two Kurdish protesters by the Turkish authorities on Monday last. Does the Taoiseach have any concerns about the EU's deal with Turkey? Will he raise the serious human rights violations by the Turkish Government with his European counterparts at the Council meeting?

Turkey has also invaded Iraq. While its personnel are supposedly there to train the Iraqi army, the Baghdad Government is denying this and has asked them to leave Iraq.

It is welcome that the European Court of Justice has ordered that a 2012 trade pact between the European Union and Morocco be annulled because Western Sahara which has been illegally occupied by Morocco, is included in the deal. The court reported that the European Union had not carried out its duty to ensure it considered all aspects of the deal, including its impact on the fundamental rights of the people of Western Sahara and who controlled the region's natural resources. This is an issue that Sinn Féin raised when we called on the Government to reject the deal during its discussion in the House. I congratulate the Polisario Front which took this successful case. However, I am extremely concerned that Federica Mogherini has said the European Union has agreed to challenge the decision of the European Court of Justice. Does the Taoiseach agree with the decision to appeal and what is the Irish position on it? Neither Morocco nor the European Union has the right to exploit the natural resources of Western Sahara. Does the Taoiseach agree that if the European Union wants to discuss the natural resources of Western Sahara, it needs, first, to consult the people of the territory, not Morocco, the occupying power?

The conflict in Ukraine will also be discussed. It is nearly two years since the crisis began and the conflict in the east goes on, even though the firing of artillery is sporadic and restricted to specific parts of the front line. Nine thousand is the conservative estimate of how many have been killed. I, again, call on all sides to stop escalating the conflict and implement all parts of the Minsk peace agreement. I am sure there is full support in the House on the issue.

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