Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Adams and did not wish to infer that he was in any way disrespectful to the Dáil. All Members can agree regarding the response of the naval personnel on the three naval vessels that have been deployed in the Mediterranean, one of which is still there, in which more than 8,000 people have been rescued. I have listened to the accounts of some naval personnel who rescued men, women and children and considering what has happened to those people, it has been an extraordinarily emotional engagement for them. One hears the High Representative indicate the trafficking of people in inferior boats, for which they are charged, simply means certain death in many cases. Would one overload a small rigid-inflatable boat, RIB, in Dún Laoghaire and state one was going to Holyhead in any kind of weather? One would not do that. In many cases, what happens when a large boat appears is the smaller RIB may be destroyed deliberately with the consequence that people end up in the water to either drown or be saved. This is going on between Turkey and within the proximity of the Grecian islands on a regular basis.

As for the pictures one sees of the flow of people, in many cases middle-class, well-educated people such as engineers and so on - coming from Syria but now mixed with economic migrants from some Balkan countries - who wish to make their way to Austria, Germany and Sweden, this has placed an unprecedented strain on the capacity of many small countries to process them and to deal with them as one would expect. Deputy Adams has raised the issue of lack of confidence in the institutions on the one hand while on the other hand, people wish to come to Europe in the first place because of confidence in the institutions. The latter is true in the sense that the perception and image of Europe as being a place of order, prosperity and opportunity has meant that in the case of civil war, conflict or destruction, people wish to leave. When one considers the extent of the numbers of people who have moved from Syria in an Irish context - a couple of million people simply upped and left - it is extraordinary and one tries to imagine, in a family sense, what this means when one sees such people carrying their children, babies, buggies and elderly people. The overwhelming weight of numbers has meant that smaller countries have been unable to process these in an acceptable way and that is why it has taken the Union quite a while to catch up. While the image of Europe is as a place of work, opportunity and prosperity, its success has been undermined, if one likes, by its inability to deal with the numbers that have turned up.

One either has the principle of freedom of movement within the European Union or one does not. If one has freedom of movement within the countries, one then must protect one's external borders. This has not happened in the past, which has meant there have been many opportunities for people to enter the European Union by various routes. As the principle of free movement is fundamental to the treaties, the question now of dealing with FRONTEX and external borders was taken to the limit by Hungary, which has erected a serious fence. There are also pressures from other countries further east in which economic migrants may mix with the numbers coming from Syria who are asylum or refugee seekers and this is causing great problems. However, the last couple of meetings at EU level have genuinely have tried to focus on what needs to be done in this regard. Progress is being made but with the onset of winter and the serious cold, snow and poor weather in eastern Europe that many people from Syria and north African countries have never experienced, there is a great urgency to provide suitable accommodation for people.

Ireland has taken the view that while it is not part of the protocol, it wishes to play its part in a compassionate and practical way, as well as seeking to deal with the root causes of all of this, which in this case is the war in Syria. Ireland has made an important contribution on a number of fronts. The Government agreed that Ireland would accept approximately 4,000 asylum seekers and refugees under the resettlement and relocation programme, that is, well in excess of any sort of notional quota that might be allocated by the European Commission. This includes 520 refugees the Government has offered to resettle from existing refugee camps in Greece and Italy. Some of these, who have already been assessed, have now started to arrive in Ireland. The implementation of the decisions to relocate 600 people from Italy and Greece under the initial Commission proposal and a further approximately 2,200 people under the subsequent Commission proposal is work in train.

Ireland is on course to take an initial tranche of 20 asylum seekers from Italy or Greece before Christmas. Initially, persons coming to Ireland on relocation will be from Syria and from Eritrea. The remaining approximately 680 people will be taken on resettlement or on relocation with the final breakdown between the two yet to be decided. I have already dealt with the question of theLE Eithne, theLE Niamhand now the LE Samuel Beckett, with 8,066 persons saved or rescued as of 28 October. I do not wish to comment on the question raised by the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA; this is a matter that is the subject of arbitration and work is under way in that regard.

In addition, the Government has provided from the Irish taxpayer financial supports to areas that are badly affected by instability, conflict and war. A total of €41 million will have been provided by the end of 2015 towards assisting those displaced as a result of the Syrian crisis, including through the regional development and protection programme in the Middle East, while €36 million has gone towards humanitarian funding in Somalia since 2008.

Furthermore, we recently committed to doubling, from €10 million to €20 million, our annual contribution to the World Food Programme over the next three years. All of these have been supported by a swift response from the Irish Government. The announcement on 10 September of the establishment of the Irish refugee protection programme and, particularly, the efforts of the interdepartmental task force, chaired by the Department of Justice and Equality, are important steps in the Government's contribution. The Irish Red Cross is working closely with the Government on this programme and is accepting offers of accommodation and other services through its website. Early in 2016 it is proposed to establish a series of emergency reception and orientation centres which will allow Ireland to receive approximately 100 migrants per month. It is worth noting that the number of people applying for protection through normal channels has also increased substantially. That figure, which was just under 1,000 in 2013, is estimated to increase to 3,600 in 2015.

In regard to the Deputy's question about what more can we do, we have consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to solidarity within the EU and externally. As already stated, we offered to take 4,000 refugees and asylum seekers and are advancing plans in that regard. The scale and complexity of the crisis is such that it cannot be addressed as quickly as member states would have liked. Ireland is one of the world's most generous donors of humanitarian aid on a per capitabasis and we have not been found wanting in respect of this particular situation.

In regard to the 2 million people in Turkey, the position, in terms of political bargaining, is that there will be an assessment of the opening of some pre-accession chapters for Turkey and a request of €3 billion in financial assistance from Turkey to the European Union. Most of the people in Turkey would prefer to return to Syria if the situation there can be dealt with. I will respond later to Deputy Adams's question on Palestine.

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