Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and Mr. Andrews for his presentation. Mr. Andrews was obviously moved by the scale of the problem. I sense a frustration in him that the world has not responded as it should and I think everybody shares that but the movement of people on this scale is a problem the world has not had to tackle before. We should not be terribly surprised that we are not immediately jumping to solutions. I agree with much of what Mr. Andrews has said in regard to Syria, particularly the issue of tackling the problem at source. Ireland can, and should, have an input through the EU and the UN.

There was agreement yesterday to take in 120,000 refugees into Europe. This is a drop in the ocean in terms of addressing the real problem, yet look at how long it took to get even semi-agreement on that. I agree that smugglers are a result of the problem and that they are not the cause. Even if Syria was to be solved in the next number of years, the OECD said today there would be a million refugees this year and a million every year for the remainder of this decade. Given what is happening in sub-Saharan Africa, the population growth and the ongoing wars there, there will be a flow of people into Europe over the coming years. Given this, when Mr. Andrews talks about a durable solution, can we provide that? If we have this ongoing debate about 120,000 people, how are we going to accommodate a million refugees a year? Can we, should we, and would it have a destabilising effect?

I have visited the camps on the Turkish border with Syria. I am in awe of what Turkey has achieved, but it is destabilising Turkey. It is destabilising Lebanon and Jordan. All of those countries are swamped and becoming almost ungovernable at this point. I admit and totally accept that they are taking far more than we are at the moment but, contemplating the future, can Europe provide a durable solution? This is a major issue for the world and for Europe and is the biggest challenge we have faced since the Second World War.