Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not know how low humanity can sink when one sees these traffickers locking women and children into the hulls of boats, putting the ships on autopilot to hit the rocks off the coastline while they abandon ship to go back from where they came. I am convinced we are not hearing the full extent of the horrors of this trafficking. To think these traffickers can extract as much as €5,000 per person to get into these wrecks of fishing boats shows how much people want to get into Europe. We see migrants in Calais trying to get on trains and lorries to the UK. One sees them climbing over and tearing down wire fences in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco, in their desire to reach Europe.

We must congratulate the Italian, the Maltese, the Spanish and the Greek authorities for their response to this tragedy. It would be helpful to get representatives from Italy and Greece to assist the committee in understanding the burden these countries are confronting.