Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like other members, I wish to sympathise and empathise with the ambassador following the tragic events of the past couple of weeks. I accept what he said, namely, that the threat is not only to France but also to Europe and the wider global community. That is quite true. There must be a response to a threat because there have been threats from people previously, down through history, which, when left unchallenged, continued. It is Paris today, it will be London tomorrow and it will be Dublin some other day. Each city throughout Europe will come under threat at some stage or another. The ambassador referred to the necessary response in terms of security, co-operation and the exchange of information with a view to dealing with the issue.

The attacks on Paris were sinister and insidious in the manner in which they were orchestrated. I listened to the discussion about radicalisation. One must remember that those in Ireland who feel sufficiently radicalised to travel abroad and, for whatever reason, become involved in a fight in another country may have cultural, historical and other links but they also have choices. They are not forced to go. My point is if the global community allows this to continue indefinitely, then there will be a really serious confrontation of a kind unknown heretofore. My reason for so saying is that these organisations now have considerable wealth at their disposal. They have access to economic wealth which was not there previously and which comes from more than one source. The aim of those to whom I refer is to terrorise. They terrorised viewers sitting in front of their television sets. The beheading of prisoners in front of a camera is intended to shock and terrorise viewers. Those involved are doing it effectively and their behaviour leads to more of the same.

There is a serious danger that the European Union, the United Nations and the global community in general are not awake to what is happening. There is a vacuum in the Middle East in general. Unfortunately, the withdrawal from Iraq has left a vacuum, which caused the initial upsurge in this kind of violence. It is continuing for a long period and it is spreading. There are bound to be consequences arising from that.

"Liberté", "égalité" and "fraternité" would not be the watchwords of those carrying out these acts of terrorism. The individuals in question do not think in that way. They are as much a threat to Islam as they are to anybody else.

There are millions of refugees fleeing the region. They are fleeing from a variety of difficulties. One of those difficulties relates to the kind of trouble we saw in Paris only ten days ago. There will be more of these attacks. It is up to the global community to respond in a meaningful way. In saying that, I do not mean by carrying out similar atrocities. A classic example would be what is happening in Libya. Recent events in Libya should not have happened at all and there is every reason that the international community should set out to police what is taking place in that country.

My final point relates to the potential damage to the global economy. The global economy can be brought to a halt by activities such as we have witnessed in recent times. I refer to the downing of aircraft and the striking at holiday resorts and tourism businesses all over the world. The consequences of that will be considerable and it will not be possible to repair the damage in a short period.