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

I had a very interesting meeting last week with representatives from Médecins Sans Frontières, which is very much part of the humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean and is doing a fantastic job as an NGO. The numbers have reduced quite significantly in recent weeks. The LE Niamh, which was in the Mediterranean before the LE Samuel Beckettwhich is currently there, rescued about 4,500 people. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of tragedy during the same period in terms of people who drowned.

The numbers will not be anything as high for the LE Samuel Beckett, although the situation is still very challenging as the Mediterranean is now much rougher because of the time of year. As a result of that, the information we have received is that the numbers have fallen quite dramatically. If anyone is in any doubt as to the extraordinary challenge we face in terms of refugees and migration generally, they should know that the last time I examined the figures on the numbers of people who crossed the Mediterranean, I found that the number for this year alone is 780,000.

Another 800,000 people are on the beaches of Libya. There will be a major job to be done again next year simply to save people's lives, and Ireland will be involved in this. If there is to be a break period of eight weeks to reassess the mission, the best time to do it is probably towards the end of December and the month of January, when we are likely to have fewer people and families attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

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