Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to the Deputy's questions in reverse order. On the issue of aid, I refer to the new paper. I am slow to call it "aid" because it is really about development and partnership. I speak a lot about the relationship between the EU and Africa, which in my view, in terms of political infrastructure, is totally inadequate. We need a partnership between Africa and Europe in the future which is based more on co-operation and equal input than on funding and aid. A lot of aid is linked to contracts and is tied. I am glad to state that Ireland is not part of that approach. The new aid strategy will attempt to link development and capacity building whereby the private sector can complement and add significantly to the platforms we are trying to create through aid programmes around stability and local capacity building. Hopefully, I have shown a record in this area in terms of the Africa agrifood support programme, which I put in place during my tenure in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is the type of activity in which we need to do more. I hope the Deputy will see in the aid strategy, when published mid-January, a new approach that she will welcome.

On Yemen, I have agreed to a motion in the Seanad on Yemen, which will be debated next Tuesday. It involves a condemnation of arms exports to Saudi Arabia in the context of the war in Yemen, although we are all hopeful that the talks process can ensure that the ceasefire is lasting. It is important that we are realistic. It is virtually impossible to get a united EU position on arms trade. We do have arms trade treaties by which member states are bound. It is the responsibility of countries exporting arms to know where they are going and for what they are being used. A number of EU countries that historically have exported arms, for example, Sweden and Austria, are no longer selling arms to countries that are actively at war, including Saudi Arabia.

Ireland has been quite vocal in respect of this matter and has supported a motion that is balanced but also direct. I suspect that motion will be agreed, virtually unanimously, in the Seanad on Tuesday next.

I have a note on Syria which I must read. A new reality is emerging. So far, few refugees have returned due to fear of savage repression. These are the fears which prompted the start of the conflict in 2011. We will continue to have to provide significant humanitarian aid, not only to Syrians who are refugees in their own country but also to those who are refugees outside their country. There is a real fear of reprisals and the settling of scores. While some refugees will be welcomed home, others will not, depending on what side they were on in the civil war. We must not be naive about what is possible in Syria in the context of timeframes and so on. We must be aware of the need to facilitate the safe return of Syrian refugees to their home country, not only because of the difficult burden refugees place on neighbouring countries but also because people have the right to return. We are some way off seeing the opportunity of safe return for many refugees, particularly in light of the approach of the Assad regime. Oversight will be essential when that return happens. There will also have to be a global effort to rebuild the country. The same is true of Yemen. Yemen and Syria are countries which will require many billions of euro and dollars to rebuild. Societies will need to be rebuilt as well as physical structures.

Political fragmentation and the fragile security situation in Libya allow for only a limited capacity on the part of the international community to end abuses there. No one should pretend some of the camps from which pretty horrible imagery has emerged have gone away. While significant efforts have been made to build capacity among systems in Libya to protect people, we are clearly not where we need to be. There is a need to build consensus among groups and factions in Libya in order to provide a platform and foundation for free and fair elections. The UN process is the one we need to follow. Part of the problem in Libya is that different organisations were trying to do different things for a while, but they have now all coalesced behind UN efforts which is necessary and positive. However, I would not want to be overly positive about where we are. Libya is still a haven for human trafficking and a very sophisticated and well-funded level of illegal activity. Families are sent from Libya in boats that have no capacity to get very far at sea and so on. The EU has funded some successful efforts to repatriate people to home or source countries from Libya and we will see a great deal more of that in future. It has been successful and reduced numbers significantly. However, there is still a great deal of work to do. It is very hard to get certainty around co-operation with a state when one does not have a sound structure with which to negotiate politically.

I take the point about migration and am glad to say the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, has signed on behalf of Ireland the UN’s global compact on migration, which is a voluntary commitment. Unfortunately, many EU countries decided not to do so but a majority did. It reflects how deeply divisive the global political debate on migration continues to be. We see those tensions in the Mediterranean now. That NGO boats are no longer allowed to operate in the Mediterranean is a reflection of some of the challenges the EU faces and even of the challenges faced by the likes of Operation Sophia. It is sobering and a matter in respect of which Ireland will continue to try to have an input.