Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I endorse the Taoiseach's commendation of the Naval Service, most recently in respect of the crew of the LE Samuel Beckett, who rescued 102 people on 15 October. Tá siad ag déanamh sárobair. Táimidne uilig agus tá muintir na hÉireann fíorbhuíoch agus fíorbhródúil as na mná agus na fir ar an long seo.

Before the last European Council meeting, I raised the ongoing refugee crisis with the Taoiseach. As his statement outlines, that dominated the Council meeting. It is worth repeating that we are in exceptional times. In the face of such a humanitarian crisis, our collective response must go above and beyond the bare minimum. Hungary has now sealed its border with Croatia and thousands of refugees are stranded in inhuman and dangerous conditions, as Slovenia has limited the numbers it will allow in. In human terms, this means that men, women and children who are literally fleeing for their lives are stuck in freezing and wet conditions as winter approaches. The congress of the European People's Party, EPP, will take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Madrid. I do not know if the Taoiseach is attending that cruinniú. If so, will he discuss Hungary's criminalisation of refugees with Hungary's Prime Minister, who is a fellow member of the EPP group? Will the Taoiseach condemn his atrocious comments that refugees are terrorists and that somehow Hungary is defending Christian or European ideals by criminalising refugees? I am sure that, as a decent man, the Taoiseach does not subscribe to these baser instincts.

Slovenia and Croatia have both indicated that they will keep the present corridor open as long as Austria and Germany keep their doors open, but it is clear that EU states are incapable of formulating a common and humane position despite facing the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. More than 615,000 people, most of them Syrians, have reached Europe so far this year, compared to just over 200,000 for the whole of 2014. More than 475,000 people made it to Greece from Turkey in 2015. Despite these figures, the EU has agreed to resettle only 160,000 refugees so far. This is not good enough. It is unacceptable, and EU Governments need to show greater leadership. We have witnessed violent demonstrations by far-right elements and attacks on refugee centres in some EU states. Over the weekend, a candidate for the mayoralty of Cologne, who works with refugees and has promoted policies which would assist them, was stabbed in the neck. I have heard that she is in a serious but increasingly stable condition and has won the election. I wish her a speedy recovery. Additionally, an Afghan man trying to make his way into Bulgaria last week was shot by border guards and killed. This must be the first time in a very long time that an EU border guard has shot and killed a refugee attempting to enter the EU.

Before the Council meeting, I asked the Taoiseach to argue for a humane and moral approach to the refugee crisis. However, the conclusions of the meetings do not represent such a position. The only agreement seems to be one to provide Turkey with €3 billion in aid, ease visa restrictions for Turkish nationals, and offer a prospect of granting Turkey safe-country-of-origin status in return for that state's co-operation. This completely ignores Turkey's deplorable human rights record, especially against Kurds, and Turkey's own role in the Syrian conflict. Additionally, the EU's support for the Turkish Government is a political boost for the AK party ahead of the elections in Turkey on 1 November. Peace rallies have been attacked by suicide bombers, most recently in Ankara, when 102 people lost their lives. Our sympathy is with them and their families. Some say the Turkish Government is deliberately failing to provide adequate protection for these rallies. We must be mindful that many of the refugees fleeing Turkey are Kurds and that sending them back, as appears to be contemplated, could allow for major human rights violations. The EU is offering a carrot to the Government of Turkey and a stick to refugees. This is not a morally sustainable position.

Before the Council meeting, my colleague Deputy Seán Crowe raised with the Taoiseach the issues in Palestine and Israel. I see nothing in the meeting's agreed conclusions to indicate that this was raised by the Taoiseach as requested by my colleague. Did the Taoiseach raise that issue? If not, why not? If so, what was the consequence? The death toll from political conflict in this region is rising and Israel is continuing to seal off neighbourhoods in occupied east Jerusalem. While the Palestinian question may sometimes be submerged by the awfulness of other crises in the region, it remains a constant. It is constant in terms of the suffering of the people involved and in terms of the destabilising effect that this unresolved issue between the people of Israel and the people of Palestine has on the wider region. The Israeli Government is using violence against Arab residents while continuing military operations across the West Bank and Gaza.

According to the UN, last week was the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel in ten years. Thousands of people have been injured by live and plastic bullets and hundreds have been arrested for protesting. The Palestinian people need international protection as the situation in occupied Palestine deteriorates at an alarming rate. I have been there and talked to some of the older people in its civic society. They believed that they were losing influence over their younger people. They almost predicted what is now happening. Will the Taoiseach raise the blatant violations of international law and human rights that we are witnessing with his European counterparts? Will he call for immediate international protection for the Palestinian people who are living under this violent and brutal occupation?

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