Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are in the business of doing multiple things at the same time - namely, trying to save people who are at risk of drowning when trying to cross the Mediterranean because they are in a desperate and vulnerable situation. That is, however, just an emergency response. The deeper issue is how the European Union can use its influence in a peaceful way, primarily to bring stability to countries that can look after their own populations rather than facilitating or causing the movements of large numbers of people looking for a better life.

We will not have the solution to this today or tomorrow, and this is the truth of it. In the meantime we need to ensure people do not drown, that they are treated with some dignity when they claim asylum and that there is a fair process to assess genuine asylum seekers. We also need to ensure Ireland, within reason, bears its fair share of the burden of accommodating some of these refugees. It will be up to the Government as a whole and, in particular the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, to decide the actual numbers involved.

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