Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ambassador. I also welcome Mr. Sutherland back to the Oireachtas which has changed a little since he was last here. I was a Member of the Oireachtas when he was Attorney General and a former very successful European Commissioner. I also welcome Mr. Killoran.

The issue is very serious. I noted Mr. Sutherland's point in comparing it with what happened to Titanicand the international reaction to that event. There has not been the same reaction on this occasion. People are escaping from Africa and trying to get some support to remain alive. At the Interparliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy held in Rome last November my colleague, Senator Mark Daly, made the point that the downscaling of the scheme in place at the time to the new European scheme was a disaster. That is a fact. The Italian Government and people saved 100,000 shipwrecked refugees, an incredible number, and had a tremendous operation in place. It involved the use of helicopters, naval vessels, five aircraft, two submarines and 900 personnel. It should be reinstated but supported by the European Union and the American Government.

The American Government has an involvement because of the destabilisation of Libya and the Middle East through the action taken in Iraq by the American and British Governments. They had no solution, just a wish to get rid of Saddam Hussein. Overall, the situation in the region has been seriously destabilised and we must secure the lives of the maximum number of people. Mr. Sutherland has spoken strongly and very well about how we should do this and I am very impressed by his statements and presence here. I hope he will be successful. An international effort is required. It is not just the Italian Government that carries this responsibility; one country cannot carry it. If it is possible to provide ships to rescue people who are in distress, it would be better than leaving them left in the middle of the high seas and trying to rescue them at that point.

I thank the Chairman for organising this meeting and the delegates for attending to discuss the issue. Frankly, we feel rather helpless. We look back to when the coffin ships were leaving Ireland and foundering. We were delighted when those who reached the shores of Canada and the United States were given refuge. From a humanitarian point of view, we should have the same feeling for the people from Africa that was shown for the people from Ireland who were in distress and fleeing hunger and starvation in Ireland.