Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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In view of what happened over the weekend in the Mediterranean, I decided on Monday that this issue should be put on the agenda as a matter of urgency. We have seen so many people die trying to make a better life for themselves in Europe as a result of conflict in their countries of origin. We have seen an incredible smuggling industry develop out of the conflicts in many of the African countries concerned. It is built on human misery. It took the deaths of 700 or 800 people over the weekend for the European Union to realise the serious problem it has on its shores. It is sad, because we should have dealt with this much sooner.

When I was in Morocco in January representing the committee, that country's Prime Minister said that Europe should wake up to this problem. Perhaps some members of the European Union turned a blind eye to this. While we know of a large number of people who have drowned, we must suppose there are others who drowned having taken smaller boats and about whom nobody knows anything.

As a result of what happened on Monday, Mr. Donald Tusk has called a meeting for Thursday. The Taoiseach will represent the Government at it. This issue was raised yesterday in the Dáil by Deputy Gerry Adams during Leaders' Questions, and I am delighted he did so. The Taoiseach dealt with the matter in a very comprehensive and sympathetic way. As members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, we need to deal with it also, and that is why I put it on the agenda today.

The foreign affairs Ministers met on Monday last and proposed a ten-point plan to deal with the situation. While it is a challenging and difficult situation and not a straightforward one, at least it is very much at the top of the agenda. People's lives are at stake. People are making money out of human misery. The people on that boat were not only Africans. Some of them were from Bangladesh and other regions. Europe and Africa need to deal with the core of the problem and not only the refugees that come across to Europe to try to make a better life for themselves. There is not a better life for them in Europe but they are trying to escape from atrocities, human misery and conflict in their own countries.

The discussion of this issue is important for us as a committee in considering where we go from here with this issue. It would rightly deserve a full meeting but because of its urgency I brought it forward today. I open the floor for discussion on this matter and I call Deputy Brendan Smith.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Chairman put this item on the agenda. We have been aware for quite some time of the huge tragedy that has been unfolding before us but, unfortunately, no effective action has been taken. We only learn of the massive loss of life when we hear of the loss of large numbers of people on large vessels. Those people are being trafficked and abused. We do not have the words to describe adequately their misery and suffering. We now realise the appalling conditions those people live in when they take to those boats and risk travelling to Europe. A clear message needs to go out that such human trafficking and unbelievable abuse of fellow human beings need to be tackled at source. I do not know how the European Union can get to those countries where those criminals are involved in trafficking people the message as to how they need to be dealt with.

Malta, which is a very small state, and Italy, which is a much larger state, have been seeking help for years to deal with the issue of the huge numbers of migrants landing on their shores. Other member states of the European Union have not been supportive of those countries. I do not know the answer to this migration crisis but it is unacceptable that we are witnessing the slaughter and degradation of human beings on such a large scale. As the Chairman said, we probably do not have any idea of the actual loss of human life in these circumstances. What we are witnessing is incredible in this day and age. The European Union must respond in a meaningful way and we, as a member state, must also respond proportionately. We have a good record down the years in assisting in humanitarian crises, both through our people's voluntary contributions and through our taxpayers' contribution. It is in our psyche, stemming back in our history to more than 150 years ago, to have empathy, sympathy and genuine concern for people who are being treated in such an appalling way.

I welcome the fact that the Heads of Government are due to meet this week and that the foreign Ministers and interior and justice Ministers have met. Obviously, programmes need to be put in place. An Irish person who has spoken out loudly and credibly on this issue at European level for a number of year is the former Attorney General, Peter Sutherland. He has been championing the cause of those people who have been caught in such circumstances. We are a very small cog in the wheel in terms of trying to influence and put in place an adequate response, but surely the Presidency of the European Union should convene a meeting of the chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of every member state parliament to create extra awareness of this issue. We are doing it now at committee level and it is being done at Dáil level through the format of parliamentary questions and Leaders' Questions. Surely there is an onus on the Presidency of the European Union to convene a meeting comprising the Chairman and his 27 counterparts to ensure this issue is kept at the forefront of the agenda. Europe must respond in a meaningful and practical way to try to reduce and eliminate the suffering of so many innocent human beings and prevent further loss of life.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has come up with a good idea. Perhaps we could write to the Latvian Presidency proposing the convening of a meeting of foreign affairs committees. We might also invite Mr. Peter Sutherland, the UN special representative for migration, to the committee, he being an Irishman.

Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I commend the Chairman on putting this issue on the agenda. The suffering and exploitation of people is a very important issue. I understand people are being charged €1,000 to get on a boat on which they will likely die. That is the reality of the situation. People are being exploited.

The failure of the international community to recognise the problem that is creating this crisis must also be addressed at a broader level than the European one. The problem in northern Africa, especially in Libya, is a bigger issue than can be addressed at European level. We have had the inhumanity and the toleration of what has been taking place, which has led to the deaths that have occurred to date. This is not a new issue. The numbers are increasing. People have been dying in their endeavour to get to Europe during the past two and half years. The issue is not a new one but the scale of it has alerted the European Union which should have examined this. Italy has been asking for this. We should commend the Italian people on the response they have given to what they have been presented with for some time. If this were a European issue and not an African one and people were leaving a European country and dying in their hundreds, we can imagine what would be the international community's response to it. Internationally, we seem to have a different attitude towards Africa. That has been seen in many other areas of exploitation going back to colonialism with respect to the exploitation of Africa. There is the sense of there being a post-colonial negative attitude towards Africa. It is manifested in our delay as Europeans to respond to what we know has been an issue. We have known about the exploitation of people fleeing to Europe. We know that people do not flee their countries just for the sake of doing so. They do so because they have very serious issues of violence, murder and exploitation to deal with in their own countries.

The Chairman is to be commended on bringing forward this issue. I support the view that we should try to have a European-wide response from the committees involved rather than only from the Ministers because we want to support the Ministers in responding to the need that is out there. Is anyone examining the drawing up of a solution to this issue because this issue will continue and escalate? A solution to overcoming the difficulties in Africa must be found.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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It is welcome that we are having this discussion.

When the committee met with the EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, I raised with her this issue of migrants and the impact it was having on the EU. There is no surprise at the lack of solidarity coming from Europe. We would argue that there was a lack of solidarity on the Irish situation. The people of Greece, Italy and Malta would argue that economically there has been that lack of solidarity on other issues.

Regarding the recent events involving migrants, there is an element in our DNA regarding coffin ships, leaving our shores to flee poverty and hunger. The Irish experience has a greater understanding of the plight of those who have been sealed into the bulks and hulls of ships in the Mediterranean.

War is coming nearer to Europe and this is an indication of it. How do we respond to it? We have two different approaches. There is an election across the water where one of the main issues is migration. Parties there are claiming this is not the way forward. What impact would it have on Ireland if we had 10,000 people landing on our shores, looking for asylum and supports like what is happening in Italy? We need to look at the legal route that people can actually use to come to Europe, opening it up to those who have skills and for those fleeing poverty, famine and conflict.

It is a scandal that Operation Mare Nostrum was wound down. The Italian Navy had saved 100,000 people but the EU in its wisdom decided differently and pulled those ships back, relying on merchant shipping to deal with the issue. I presume this was to save money. Operation Mare Nostrum cost €12 million a month while the new Frontex costs €3 million a month. It is saving money but at the cost of the lives of hundreds of people. There is a ten-point plan but it is not up to scratch.

The committee needs to examine this issue. To assist us in this, it might be useful for the committee to bring in some of the ambassadors from the countries directly impacted. Over the past several weeks, 20 migrant boats came into Greece alone. We all know what Greece is going through, so it is understandable there will be tensions in those countries too. This is a whole European problem that needs to be solved within Europe. One country having to shoulder the unfair burden of dealing with this matter is wrong.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I know everyone wants to get in but if members could keep their contributions brief because we will be revisiting this matter again in a more comprehensive way. I call Deputy Eric Byrne.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I do not know how low humanity can sink when one sees these traffickers locking women and children into the hulls of boats, putting the ships on autopilot to hit the rocks off the coastline while they abandon ship to go back from where they came. I am convinced we are not hearing the full extent of the horrors of this trafficking. To think these traffickers can extract as much as €5,000 per person to get into these wrecks of fishing boats shows how much people want to get into Europe. We see migrants in Calais trying to get on trains and lorries to the UK. One sees them climbing over and tearing down wire fences in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco, in their desire to reach Europe.

We must congratulate the Italian, the Maltese, the Spanish and the Greek authorities for their response to this tragedy. It would be helpful to get representatives from Italy and Greece to assist the committee in understanding the burden these countries are confronting.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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The root cause of this problem and tragedy dates from 31 October 2014 when the EU withdrew funding for Operation Mare Nostrum. In November 2014, I attended the Inter-Parliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy in Rome. At this meeting, I pointed out to the EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, that what she was doing was an abdication of a duty of care. Operation Mare Nostrum had five ships, helicopters, five aircraft, two submarines and 900 staff covering an area of 27,000 sq. km. All of this assistance was withdrawn while the area covered was reduced to 30 km off the coast with one third of its original budget, one large ship and three small patrol boats. The EU High Representative is now crying crocodile tears. At that meeting in Rome, I also pointed out this move was willingly and knowingly condemning these people who were going to be put into these boats to die. One foreign office decided the rescue missions had an unintended pull factor and did not act as a deterrent. The idea was to get rid of the rescue missions and maybe people would stop trying to get across the Mediterranean.

Suddenly, now the EU High Representative, Federica Mogherini, has a ten-point plan, one which as Deputy Crowe rightly said is not near good enough. She has much to answer for. She should actually resign because she oversaw all of this and knew it was going to happen. There was an obvious outcome. She will not fix the problem and she needs to be got rid of. We need a new EU High Representative who will solve this problem. The current rescue mission is only a Band-Aid. The cause of this is climate change, the war in Syria, Libya and elsewhere in North Africa. Former colonies have been abandoned by their previous masters and are now suffering the consequences, as Deputy Neville pointed out, of a post-colonial situation of which they are not equipped to take charge.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I call Senator Jim Walsh. Will members be brief because I want to move on as I have a lot of work to get done?

Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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We all have work to do, Chairman.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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That is not what I meant. The committee has already sat for over two and quarter hours.

Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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Are you finished?

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I can interrupt the Senator whenever I want. Please do not start this. I brought the Senator in before Deputy Durkan to facilitate him for a vote in the Seanad.

Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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We of all countries should be able to empathise with what is happening in the Mediterranean, seeing our people also suffered that fate in the middle of the 19th century. This has been left to the Italians and other Mediterranean states to deal with. This shows a severe lack of political leadership at EU level where bureaucracy reigns supreme while the interests of citizens are secondary. We have seen that ourselves in economic issues.

It is a pity it has taken a major disaster with a significant loss of life to get everybody to focus on the problem. My understanding is the Italians were funding Operation Mare Nostrum, they sought EU financial support for it but it was not forthcoming. As a consequence, because of its own fiscal situation, the Italians had to scale it back, spending a third of what they used to.

They are now spending approximately one third of what was spent previously to carry out what are in effect border control activities off the Italian coast to pick up migrants. The European Union must support a proper sea rescue effort. Last week, while visiting the Greek island of Samos, I watched a police vessel leave the harbour. Local people told me that seven or eight migrants had been found earlier. Migrants are arriving daily on the Greek island of Rhodes, which is close to Syria. The loss of life among those making the journey at sea is significant.

Let us not forget that the people arriving at European ports are at great risk, not only at sea. Last week, 31 Christians from Ethiopia were slaughtered by Daesh in Libya. Migrants face risks even before they put to sea. We are dealing with the symptoms of the problem. The international community must address the core issue, namely, the current problems in the Middle East and Africa. A search and rescue effort is needed. The Government should take a much more proactive role and bring to bear Irish experience and empathy in this area.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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While I agree with most of the points made by previous speakers, there is a slight difference between the position of certain countries and our position. While the European Union must address its responsibilities in a more serious manner, we should not forget that the EU is a union of states within which there is a certain amount of resentment towards immigrants. It should be borne in mind, for example, that people are being elected to national parliaments and the European Parliament on the basis of their antipathy towards immigrants. It is not entirely the European Union which has shirked its responsibility on this matter, although I agree it is in the best position to co-ordinate a response. It must first establish safe havens in the countries from which people are being trafficked and intervene in a meaningful way to ensure traffickers no longer have free rein to do as they wish. Women and children are being trafficked, abused and knowingly sent to their deaths when they are sent out on the high seas.

An alternative suggestion is to establish safe havens for migrants in Europe and a properly structured refugee reception centre for people who are being driven from their homelands. The reason people are desperate to leave their home countries is that they are living in conflict zones where people are starving and human rights are ignored. Women, in particular, are conscious of the fate that awaits them and their children if they remain in these countries. The joint committee should involve Mr. Peter Sutherland, the United Nations special representative for migration, who echoes these views from time to time. We should also contact various people, including the EU High Representative, Ms Mogherini, with a view to co-ordinating efforts. It is fine for people elsewhere in Europe to argue the problem is one for Italy and Greece. However, it is a Europe-wide problem and one for which every European country, including Ireland, the United Kingdom, France and the Scandinavian countries, have equal responsibility. I would strongly support any move to approach our European Union colleagues at Commission level to try to activate people who are of like mind.

It is no good allowing the traffickers to continue to do their damnedest without interruption. I am sure all Deputies have dealt with cases involving women and children who were drugged while being trafficked to ensure they could not recall their experiences. The particular drug used in these types of cases prevents trafficking victims from giving evidence because they cannot remember what happened to them.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Members have made a number of proposals, including contacting Mr. Peter Sutherland, the United Nations special representative for migration. We will invite Mr. Sutherland to appear before us. Deputy Crowe suggested we contact the ambassadors of Italy, Spain and Greece. Perhaps we could also invite the Moroccan ambassador. We will see what can be done in this regard. We should also contact the European External Action Service and High Representative. We will try to have one or two comprehensive meetings on migration as it is an urgent issue. We will also contact the Latvian Presidency. If members have other suggestions, they should present them to the secretariat.

Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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I ask that the committee convey to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade a request that the Minister pursue at European Union level some form of immediate support for an effective sea and rescue effort in the Mediterranean.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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That is part of the ten-point plan. Money has been allocated for that purpose, with the Minister's support.

Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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I do not believe that is the case.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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It is the case.