Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the representatives for their eloquent and comprehensive contributions. Other members have asked some wide-ranging questions but I will ask three specific ones. I apologise for the fact that I may have to leave before the representatives respond. I am obliged to attend another meeting at 1 p.m.

This is an issue very close to my heart because my family came here from the what was then Czechoslovakia in the 1940s to seek refuge. All of us are very much touched by these issues. My first question relates to the contribution of Ms Suzanne Keatinge from Dóchas and the five recommendations she has asked the joint committee to make. I am sure there would be support among members to write to the Minister for Foreign for Foreign Affairs and Trade, as Ms Keatinge suggested, to ask that Ireland prioritise those five issues. They seem very sensible and to be a good way of engaging constructively with the summit to ensure it achieves positive outcomes. Can we, as a committee, do that?

My second question relates to the EU-Turkey deal. Many of us have talked about our deep concerns about it, about the European Commission's approach and so on. Can our guests advise what effect they hope the UN summit in September might have on improving outcomes relating to that deal or in changing EU policies? In a joint statement made in June prior to the meeting of the European Council, 104 European NGOs, including Oxfam and Trócaire, used very strong language to condemn EU policies and called for a rejection of the Commission's communication. Are the representatives hopeful or do they anticipate that there might be a change to EU policy as a result of the UN summit? Is there a way we can help to change that policy?

My third question relates to our response in Ireland. I was formerly a member of the justice committee and we certainly expressed support for and welcomed the decision taken by Government last year to admit 4,000 people. The intention was that this number would be doubled when family reunification was built into the equation. However, many of us have expressed concern about the slow progress in accepting these people. The most recent communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade indicates that and additional 131 people will be relocated from Greece very shortly and that there will be 40 persons arriving every four weeks. That is very slow progress. Have our guests any ideas as to how we can expedite matters? We have all made political calls to that effect. How can it be done? In particular, can we look at other safe and legal channels to Europe, including innovative schemes around academic exchanges and so on? There have been calls from a number of NGOs to do that. This is a practical way in which we might all seek to work to bring in more people more swiftly.