Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If the international community had not taken action against Gadaffi at that time, would the Deputy not be standing here accusing it of displaying double standards? I emphasise again that the action that was taken was to prevent the slaughter of people in Libya. The current situation, as the Deputy pointed out, is one of grave difficulty within the borders of that country. The European Union has appointed a special envoy to co-ordinate the efforts of the different countries working to deal with the difficulties. The sole European Union agency presence in the country is the EU Border Assistance Mission, EUBAM, which is doing the very work to improve the governance in regard to the country's borders for which the Deputy has called. That work is ongoing. If the elections take place in the coming weeks, as I hope they will, and when the country's rulers begin drafting a constitution which might lead to the type of reconciliation we all want to see, I assure the Deputy that Ireland, the EU and the various international bodies will do all they can to make the situation more peaceful and ordered.

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