Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Quite a number of issues have been raised.

In regard to Hungary, many of the comments from Hungary have upset people, including many Irish people, considering that, in the 1950s in particular, Ireland reached out the hand of friendship to Hungarian refugees. The official position is that it is not helpful in a European context to comment on a position adopted by any particular partner because each member state will have its own national challenges and concerns from its own perspective. We should understand that, just as we expect Irish views to be respected by others. However, all actions by the authorities in any member state should respect and reflect the high human rights standards we have in Europe.

I hear the Deputy's comments in regard to Turkey. Turkey is a hugely important partner for all of us in the European Union, a point that has come into even sharper focus as we formulate our collective response to the current crisis. It plays a geographically and politically central role in its region, and as an EU neighbour and candidate country. It is currently host to well over 2 million refugees; therefore, it is hard to imagine solutions to the crisis which do not involve it substantially.

The importance of the EU and Turkey working together was clearly recognised in a joint EU-Turkey action plan, which was welcomed at the European Council last Thursday. No one is under any illusion that it would be anything less than challenging to step up our co-operation, but it is important to engage with Turkey and to help bring about change in that country. Many of the issues the Deputy raised are relevant. We hope that rapid progress can be made over the coming period on the issues set out in the action plan.

It is worth recalling that Turkey is an EU candidate country which has been in accession negotiations since December 2004. Fourteen out of 34 chapters have been opened for negotiation, of which one has been provisionally closed. We must also remember that enlargement is a conditional process. The October European Council endorsed the action plan and called for the accession negotiations to be re-energised. However, this will only be in accordance with a negotiating framework and the relevant Council conclusions.

Our funding for refugee camps is handled mainly through the UNHCR World Food Programme. We have already decided to donate an additional €30 million to our core funding over the next three years. We are also actively considering additional contributions in the various new EU funds.

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