Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What is going on in terms of ISIS and the Assad regime is absolutely appalling. I have seen some of the effects and read the reports and it is beyond words. The slaughter of Christians and the wanton and indiscriminate murder of people in various locations in order to set up the Caliphate of which people speak is an unspeakable brutality and an ideology of absolute hatred. From that point of view, the conflict in Syria has had appalling consequences for the civilian population, 1 million of whom have gone to South Lebanon and 1 million to Jordan while others have fled across the Mediterranean. I share the view of Deputy Adams on the work of Naval Service personnel on the LE Eithne. It was an emotional moment for service personnel when they left Cork to head out on a humanitarian mission to work with the Italian Government and Navy. As we have discussed before, it is part of Ireland's history. There were similar drownings off Grosse-Île off the west coast of the Americas where people had inferior boats and no one to rescue them. At least, Ireland is contributing and playing its part here. The Minister for Defence answered questions on this subject on Question Time today. This matter will also be the subject of discussion at the European Council meeting on 26 June 2015. We will have the opportunity to reflect somewhat on that beforehand in pre-European Council statements. We will be looking at a number of options Ireland might put forward for consideration.

When I met with representatives of the Islamic community here last week, they raised the question of the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention on blasphemy. I indicated to the community that the Government accepted the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention that there should be a referendum on the blasphemy question but that it would not take place during the remainder of the lifetime of this Government. I indicated that it will be a matter considered in the course of the next Government.

This morning, the Government approved the taking in of a further 300 migrants, bringing the total to more than 522. Naval Service personnel have rescued more than 1,000 people in the last few days. The question of what the EU will do in this context has been the subject of a great deal of attention from High Representative Mogherini who, I suspect, will be presenting a report to leaders on 26 June. Between now and then, there will be quite a number of engagements and meetings to see if some positive approach can be taken. When one speaks to leaders of small countries like Malta and Cyprus and larger countries like Italy, one sees the extent of the consequences of conflict not just in this area of Middle East but also in terms of migrants from African coming through Libya and being put on inferior craft. In many cases, those craft have no capacity to reach the far shore, which is why we are making the best effort we can. We support very strongly the programme put forward by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who visited here and met with me and other Ministers to discuss it. He has the full support of the UN special envoy Staffan di Mistura on finding ways to bring closure to this conflict. We have urged all regional and international agencies to support the UN's ongoing efforts to avoid a further deterioration in Syria and across the region. Whether it will be in any way successful is very hard to say. When one reads some of the reports on what is happening in different regions, it is obviously not an encouraging situation. We support a referral by the UN Security Council of the situation that applies in Syria to the International Criminal Court and recognise the need for accountability for the multiple war crimes that have been committed during the conflict. I hope that can be adopted.

At the end of March, the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, attended at the humanitarian conference in Kuwait dealing with pledges for Syria. He announced that Ireland would provide a further €12 million in 2015 in funding and emergency supplies to help meet the stark and urgent needs of those affected by the Syrian conflict. That brings the total value of the Government's response to more than €41 million. We have responded to the plight of the victims of the Syrian conflict with a significant measure of humanitarian assistance for a country of our size, but then that is part of our nature and our history. It shows our ongoing commitment to responding to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and neighbouring countries for millions of the most vulnerable Syrians, including refugees and internally displaced persons. We have taken 128 Syrian refugees under the UNHCR's resettlement programme and agreed to take a further 220 in 2015 and 2016. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, proposed and received Government approval for the resettlement of an additional 300 refugees in 2015 and 2016 also. We have put in place a humanitarian initiative, the Syrian humanitarian admission programme, which offers temporary Irish residence to vulnerable persons in Syria or who have fled Syria to surrounding countries since the outbreak of the civil war and who have family members who reside in the State. That is of some small benefit.

As Deputy Adams said, the LE Eithneis deployed on the high seas in international waters between Sicily and Libya, which is where most of the migrant activity and search and rescue incidents have occurred. We are working in co-ordination with British, Italian and German naval forces.

To date, the LE Eithnehas rescued more than 1,100 migrants. As part of our contribution, the Minister for Justice and Equality has announced that Ireland will resettle an additional 300 vulnerable people who have been displaced by the crisis in Syria. In a further effort to assist, the Government allocated a further €2 million in humanitarian funding and support for NGO relief efforts in Syria and the wider region, which brings our total contribution in money terms to €41 million.

In reply to some of the issues raised by the Deputy, a referendum on blasphemy will be held but not in the lifetime of this Government. EU reforms and EU migrant issues are the subject of much discussion now and we can have a further reflection on that in the pre-European Council statements before 23 June.

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