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

I can do so if the Deputy wishes. We have had difficulties before with this herd mentality and people all thought the same about issues. There was criticism of that following the banking crisis, for example.

Ms McGuinness, MEP, is in an important role relating to communications and it would be useful to have that conversation at some stage within this committee. In private session we spoke about the work plan and I mentioned the importance of development on our committee agenda. There was some discussion about issues being European or foreign affairs; it flows from one to the other. We are a big investor and there are major changes across the world. Anybody who has gone on the trips organised by Irish Aid would be really impressed by the work being done. There is always criticism of multilateral aid and there may not be the same scrutiny of where that money is being spent. It is important for this or any committee to discuss that issue as people are disconnected and worried about where money is being spent. People have heard about corruption and so on, which means they want their MEPs and parliamentarians to ask the right questions, particularly if they are suffering. Anywhere we go, we must point out the sacrifices being made by Irish people in trying to invest in other countries. Many of these countries have major resources and potential. That potential can go to a small elite or be used to develop the country for the better.

There was a discussion about migration and we discussed it with High Commissioner Mogherini. There is the idea of the impact of north and south and I do not agree that we have a sense in our country of the impact of immigration. The MEPs might pick that up more in Europe. It is not unusual for boats to have 4,000 or 5,000 on them, and they may sink off coasts, with hundreds of people dying. There is a desperate desire of people to go to Europe to work legally. We do not have a common approach. I was recently in the Canaries and I saw a story on the front page of the newspaper detailing how a boat had come from Africa but the poor people on it had been kept on the beach for nine hours after the boat was set on fire. There were tourists on the beach watching this. It is only an example. In Fuerteventura one can see clothes on the beach. I am thankful that we have not had that problem in Ireland of people dying on our shores, but other countries in the EU or on the edge have it. There is a lack of solidarity and there is no joined-up thinking.

Is there anything the witnesses believe that Europe could be doing better on detention? In Ireland, there are difficulties in dealing with people who come here, including provision centres which have been criticised. We can learn a lot from each other.

Human trafficking was also mentioned. The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, of which I am a member, has done some work on it. I am aware that similar work has also been undertaken by other parliaments across Europe. Have the MEPs come across anything in their own work concerning human trafficking and could we be dealing with it better? Some of it seems to come down not only to a lack of co-operation between police services, but also to sharing information between countries.