Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is on the table, along with discussing countries of origin, countries of transit and a raft of resettlement issues. There are issues with legal pathways and reforming member states' adjudication processes, which is a big challenge for us because of the increase in numbers with which we are dealing. We are working with our EU counterparts on the matter, however. I have not seen a final outcome yet regarding the detail of what way countries are likely to fall on it. Based on their geographical location within the EU, there are very varied and different responses in terms of viewpoints from my colleagues across the General Affairs Council.

Ireland is working to try to get a unified solution and is trying to broker a deal in this area. We need reform, however. Any deal needs to respect the vulnerabilities of genuine asylum seekers who are fleeing oppressive regimes and who are in fear of their lives. We need to ensure that they get shelter and are looked after. In our country, we have put something like 250,000 jobs into our economy over the last 12 months. Critical to that is a legal pathway for migration and supporting our health services and any other areas. That is what we need to be firm on. We must have clear legal pathways for opportunities for citizens looking to come here. Asylum is very much protected for the most vulnerable. We have much work to do in that space at the moment.