Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for placing this matter on the agenda today. I agree with the Minister that we cannot interfere with the scientific evidence and that safety must be paramount. However, I have questions about the Minister's accountability and that of the Department of Foreign Affairs in dealing with the issues.

What protocols are or were in place last Thursday to deal with people who were stranded abroad? I refer specifically to Madrid where over 200 passengers were stranded and unable to make or receive contact from the Irish Embassy there over the weekend. I received a number of calls from people concerned about this. Does the Minister not agree that all our consulates and embassies, or at least those in key hubs, should have immediately put a 24-hour service in place, or at least a service from 7 a.m. to midnight, to deal with the queries of people who were worried and concerned? I am unhappy that was not the case. Having been contacted by people in distress, I raised the matter with the Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday morning. It immediately rang the people concerned and gave them help and advice. However, they did not get that assistance in Madrid and their calls were not answered. I would like the Minister to analyse the reason for that and bring the facts to our attention. What protocols are in place for such contingencies?

A significant question also arises with regard to people stranded abroad with medical problems. A number of people who were also in Madrid contacted me in this regard. They had difficulty, even when they had a scanned copy of their prescriptions from their doctors in Ireland, because these were not accepted by the pharmacists in Madrid. It is important that embassies and consulates are able to disseminate the names and addresses of doctors or pharmacists who could assist such patients. It would, for example, be helpful if lists of doctors in the relevant countries were posted on the Department's website. Some people had unforeseen medical expenses or missed appointments here or have incurred expenses over and above what they expected. Will the Minister consider this from a humanitarian point of view and try to address the issue with regard to those who faced significant expenditure or had to pay for private consultations?

There has also been an issue with regard to profiteering. I understand a group of eight people stranded in Tenerife are being charged the princely sum of €1,200 for a flight from Tenerife to Barcelona. Profiteering is an issue that has arisen and I would like to know what the European Union will do to deal with it. Profiteers are trying to get blood out of a stone and people are being put into extreme expenditure due to unfair profiteering by agencies abroad. Can or should the European Union do more to arrange that national governments put protocols in place in this regard? The Minister has said that he has arranged that people stranded here will not be ripped off and has made special provisions with bed and breakfast accommodation for travellers. I welcome that. Can we insist that a policy be developed to be put in place throughout the European Union for the future?

The dormant volcano close to the erupting volcano is expected to blow within the next decade or at least during this century. It will have been dormant for 100 years in 2016. What arrangements are being put in place to deal with that? Its eruption may be more severe and have more adverse effects than those we are suffering currently. We need a structure in place to ensure that people are ready to act immediately, that the Department of Foreign Affairs and our embassies abroad are available on a 24-hour basis and that arrangements are put in place to deal with medical and profiteering issues.

Larger countries, such as the United Kingdom, have the capacity to send their naval services to carry citizens home. We should be able to liaise with those countries and make an arrangement or put a strategy in place to obtain their assistance. An arrangement should also be made for Governments, such as the Spanish Government, to deal with the issues of people stranded in places like Tenerife and the Canaries. People stranded in those areas are being charged a fortune to leave those areas and get back to the Spanish mainland.

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