Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Did the Irish Government intervene at the time of the debate around Operation Mare Nostrum to say search and rescue operations should be maintained? The smugglers are obviously dealers in death and should be condemned, but they are not the essential reason people are travelling. People are travelling because they are in conditions of extreme poverty, are desperate and are trying to enter the European Union to have a better life. I do not accept that search and rescue missions inadvertently assist criminal gangs and encourage less sea-worthy vessels. People are going to travel to try to access Europe as long as their economies are destroyed and they are subject to wars, all of which the European Union more generally has a hand in. Does the Minister have a comment on the fact that the position paper outlined that Ireland should press for longer-term solutions such as requiring neighbouring states to include in trade agreements with the EU conditions on stopping migration to the Union? That is a repeat of the outsourcing of the militarisation of Europe's borders further beyond Europe as was done with Colonel Gadaffi whereby these people are paid money to keep migrants away. Is that really the answer? Should we not be trying to improve conditions in North Africa and the Middle East so that people do not feel the need to travel in such dangerous vessels?

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