Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Dara Murphy, and his officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the diplomatic corps. The Minister of State has gives the committee a comprehensive report in advance of next week's meeting of the General Affairs Council. This is a period of critical difficulties in Europe and throughout the world. In light of what is happening, it is important for the EU to work together. The summit in Malta, which will place an emphasis on Europe's links with African states, is also important.

The people of Turkey should be supported by the EU, which has not really honoured its promise to provide support, in the tremendous work they are doing with regard to migrants, emigration and refugees. The difficulty is that the Balkan countries are trying to cope with the situation. I am going to Montenegro next week in my capacity as co-rapporteur for the Council of Europe in monitoring that country. People do not realise that Montenegro has taken in refugees from Kosovo, including a number of Roma people. Montenegro, as a newly established democracy of just over 500,000 people, is coping extraordinarily well as it tries to deal with this refugee situation. When I visited a refugee camp in Montenegro , I noted the work that is being done by the Montenegrin authorities with the people from Kosovo. They would certainly be overwhelmed if they had to deal with refugees from Syria, Iraq and parts of Africa.

It would be preferable if we could try to keep as many as possible of the population of Syria, Iraq and Libya within the region and try to ensure they have the highest possible quality of life in the circumstances until a resolution is found, which must happen some day. These countries have the potential to be enormously wealthy. Syria, Iraq and Libya have substantial amounts of oil, for example. Rather than taking in refugees, we should try to support these people in their own region from a cultural and religious - Islamic - perspective. They need to be helped to stay within their own environments, which are very different from the environments they are going into in Sweden, Germany and elsewhere.

We are offering to take in 4,000 refugees, which is a reasonable number. It is very hard for many people to comprehend that we can cope with 4,000 people at a time when we are unable to cope with the homeless people on the streets of Dublin. It is very strange that we are in such a position. If people looking in can see what is happening here, Ireland must not seem like a very attractive country. Nevertheless, more support should be given to non-governmental agencies such as Goal and Concern, which are providing services within the camps on Turkey's borders with Syria and Iraq and in Libya. Every possible support should be given to facilitate the construction of temporary housing in Ireland to be sent to assist people in refugee camps as the winter draws in. No reference has been made today to the major difficulties that have been caused by the destabilisation of the whole population of this region by the so-called ISIS group. It has added to the existing conflict by creating mayhem throughout the whole region. It will certainly have to be dealt with before there is a solution in this area.

Generally speaking, I note and welcome the amount of funding that is being provided. The Brexit issue and the other issues that will be considered at next week's meeting of the General Affairs Council really pale into insignificance by comparison with the migration and refugee situation. The British negotiations are political issues which can and will be dealt with effectively. In that context, I note the support we will be giving the British Government in the renegotiation process. These issues will be dealt with in due course.

Reference has been made to what is happening overall in the Middle East.

The Minister of State did not refer in his statement to what is happening in Palestine and Israel, which is at the centre of the broader problems we are seeing. People are being killed on both sides in that conflict. It is a problem that must be resolved.

I wish the Minister of State well at the meeting of the General Affairs Council and thank him for briefing the committee. All we can do is support him in his work through this difficult period. I am sure he is working to the utmost of his ability to achieve our objectives.