Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a bit worrying that the Minister has not answered either of my questions. Does he not think that we should play a neutral role and advocate for non-military action in the area? The idea that military action could in any way help things is ridiculous.

The EU was formed on the foundations built up after the Second World War and on the idea that inhumanity should not be tolerated. The idea that we would now use any type of measures to stop people coming to Europe is something I find hard to take, given the reasons that they want to come here. Sadly, we too have played a part. People want to come to Europe because we have gone to their countries and destroyed them. They are being driven out of their homes through economic policies, trade tariffs and military intervention.

3 o’clock

More than 33 million people have been displaced because of war, yet we continue to allow Shannon Airport to be used by the US military machine, the biggest one on the planet, to cause devastation in many of the countries in question. Syria and Afghanistan are in the top three countries for internally displaced people. Can we take an active role and say that enough is enough and that the arms industry and the militarisation of the planet are madness, causing untold misery?

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