Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, will no doubt agree that events on the Mediterranean are a terrible reflection on the European Union and the West in general. Aside from the destruction being caused in the countries from which people are fleeing, it is a mark of the terrible hardships they face that they are fleeing across the Mediterranean which is, by all accounts, an incredibly dangerous waterway. This year alone, more than 400 refugees have drowned making the crossing. The European Union, under pressure from countries such as Britain, stopped the Mare Nostrum project which rescued more than 100,000 people in the year before it was discontinued in October last. That this has been done in response to the argument that the project was encouraging immigrants to come to Europe is frightening. We have decided to allow a few refugees to drown to see if it will put people off making the journey in the future. Instead of spending €9 million per month in addressing the problem on the Mediterranean, the budget for the Mare Nostrum project has been cut by one third. The European Union has admitted that the main focus of the new Triton mission is border control as opposed to helping people at sea.

This terrible tragedy did not fall out of the sky. Libya is the foremost country from which people are fleeing. More than three years ago, with other Deputies on this side, I argued against the madness of allowing NATO to bomb Libya. As a result of the NATO bombing raids, the death toll in the Libyan conflict increased from 2,000 to 30,000 within six months. The British Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, who is partly responsible for the decision to stop the Mare Nostrum service was one of the leading lights in the group of countries angling to invade Libya at the time. He and the then French President, Mr. Sarkozy, did so to boost their popularity before abandoning the country once the damage had been done.

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