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

Apologies for being late. I had questions for the Minister in the Chamber. Dr. Severoni spoke about the common approach needed to deal with the issue of immigration but I will give him one example of what works and what does not. A boat arrived at the Canary Islands recently from Africa. It was surrounded by police. The boat was set on fire. The immigrants were left on the strand. This is an area where people are on holidays and taking photographs on their cameras. For seven hours people were sitting in the sun surrounded by police, with the boat having been set on fire. That is the panic that occurs with regard to people coming from Africa in terms of the possibility of them being a danger and so on. That is something that does not work yet we have the idea that there is a common approach.

Those of us in Ireland have no sense of the difficulties facing many countries, even in Europe. People visiting the Canary Islands would see clothes on a beach or even a body swept onto a beach, which is an awful situation. That is unknown to us but we still have a sense that we are being swamped or that there is an influx. That is the language being used relating to migration. We do not take huge numbers of immigrants but we try to help out in different ways.

With regard to the common approach, it must be common across Europe in terms of how we deal with people coming into the country. There was mention of the direct provision centres here where there are huge difficulties, but other countries would have a different approach. Some keep people in camps while others integrate them almost immediately into the community. I see the witnesses having a role in that regard in terms of best practice and what is and is not working. Do the witnesses see themselves having a role and making recommendations to countries?

In terms of the direct provision centres here, the witness mentioned mental health and the food the people are eating. Culturally, their backgrounds are very different. Many of them do not recognise the food and find it unpalatable. They are mixing with groups that are alien to their own values. People from a criminal background outside the centres are preying on them. Those are the difficulties, and they are being experienced across Europe. As well as dealing with the issue, would the witnesses accept there is clearly a role for them in that regard?