Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with some of Deputy Micheál Martin's opening remarks on this process. It would be helpful in the next Dáil, if we are returned, for us to know exactly what the Irish position is in many of the negotiations taking place. If the Taoiseach were to impart that information, it would help the discussion we are having. It would also be useful for the people at home who are listening to it.

I understand Britain’s in-out referendum on membership of the European Union was discussed at the recent European Council meeting. A new Survation opinion poll - apparently it is the British equivalent of Red C - published in the Mail on Sundayshows support among British voters for leaving the European Union rising to 53%, while 47% want to stay within it. However, undecided voters were excluded from the count.

Sinn Féin firmly believes a British withdrawal from the European Union would represent a political and economic setback for Ireland and hinder the process of democratic transformation in the North. On 29 January the Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson will hold a conference in Belfast on the referendum, as well as on the Tory plan to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998. It is welcome that the Taoiseach at the recent Council meeting raised the economic, social and political implications a Brexit would have for Ireland. There is support across the House on this issue. As the referendum will allow the views of English voters to dictate the future relationship of the North and, therefore, the island as a whole with the European Union, has the Taoiseach ever raised with the Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron, the undemocratic nature of the referendum? This is not just an issue for the North because people in Scotland and perhaos a majority in Wales have a similar view. There is a rump in London that seems to be opposed to the European Union.

In Dáil statements made before the Council meeting Deputy Gerry Adams said climate change was one of the defining challenges facing society and that while the Paris agreement was a good step forward, it fell far short of what was needed to protect humanity from the growing environmental crisis created by our abuse of the planet and its natural resources. We have seen some of its disastrous consequences in recent weeks with the devastating floods that have affected the island and its people. The agreed conclusions to the meeting state the Commission and the Council will review the results of the Paris conference in March 2016 and prepare the next steps. Sadly, it is widely accepted that the State will not even reach the European Union’s 2020 target of a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This is a bit of a farce with developed countries buying off less developed ones. It does not do anything to improve or save our planet. We need to urgently review the State's commitment to reform in order to tackle climate change and reverse its current inaction because we are rapidly running out of time. We need a plan.

More than 1 million refugees arrived in the European Union last year by land and sea. It is the biggest crisis of forced displacement since the Second World War. I raised the issue at the pre-Council meeting discussion. One of the primary responses of the European Union was an agreement to resettle 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece. Considering the scale of need and the crisis, this was seen as a shockingly low number, yet to date only 322 refugees have been resettled. I raised this issue personally with the Taoiseach after the debate. There is something radically wrong when only 322 refugees have been resettled across the European Union. In contrast to the slow pace of joint projects, EU countries have taken snap unilateral measures, including border lock-downs in the heart of the Schengen free travel zone and tighter asylum laws in Denmark, Germany and Sweden. While the current EU President, the Netherlands, is shepherding the process, the next EU President, Slovakia, which will takes over in July wants to tear down the 160,000 person relocation scheme and has lodged a case against the plan at the European Court of Justice. We are in the middle of one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world and the European Union is simply failing to act in a unified manner and is making the position worse. The State has been asked to take in only 20 refugees under the programme. What is the failure here? What is wrong with the system? Ireland agreed to accept 2,600 refugees.

Some aid agencies are reporting that many new arrivals are reluctant to apply for asylum in Greece or Italy, a prerequisite for entering the relocation scheme, either because they fear they will be stuck in these countries or because they do not wish to move to certain EU member states. That is understandable considering the hostility in some states shown to people from different backgrounds. What solutions to this problem did the Taoiseach propose at the Council meeting? The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Dara Murphy, might reflect on this and give us some more information in his response.

The International Organization for Migration has stated 31,244 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece by sea since the start of the year - 21 times more than in the same period last year. The organisation states projections indicate the number of arrivals in Greece in 2016 "may significantly exceed" last year's record figure of 853,650.

There is a general acceptance that this crisis is not going away. Many European politicians, particularly those on the right, want to close their eyes and somehow wish away this problem or are seeking to shift the problem onto the shoulders of others. There is a lack of solidarity with those countries on the front line, particularly Greece and Italy. Their solutions are not grounded in reality. We need to act with unity in providing these refugees and asylum seekers the protection and support they need.

In addition to the asylum seeker relocation programme, the Government has committed to taking in 520 refugees under a UNHCR programme. According to reports, 176 refugees entered this State in 2015 under this programme and yet the Government has committed to receiving 4,000 people under relocation and resettlement programmes by the end of 2017. How many refugees does the Minister of State expect Ireland to accept in 2016? There was widespread support across the State but the process seems to have dragged on. At one point, thousands of people were offering accommodation but we do not seem to be following up on that.

It is a pity the Taoiseach has had to leave the Chamber, as I now wish to raise the issue of Turkey. For months, the Turkish army has been running an operation, with special police forces, of unprecedented violence against towns located in Kurdish regions of the country. Some 10,000 soldiers, supported by tanks and helicopters, have been mobilised for this offensive which virtually turned the country's south-eastern region into a war zone. The repression has escalated further in urban areas of the region, reaching a level unprecedented since 2002, with more than 50 curfews in 18 Kurdish cities and districts.

Elected representatives, including from the HDP which received more than 10% of the votes during the last legislative elections, have been particularly targeted as well as more than 1,200 academics and lecturers who signed a petition denouncing these operations. A well-known human rights lawyer, o Elçi, was assassinated recently.

This violence, affecting more than 1 million people, has already led to the exodus of more than 200,000 inhabitants from the region. The conflict's main victims are civilians, with 360 killed as of 13 January, including 61 children and 73 women.

In his speech, the Taoiseach spoke about Turkey being an important partner but our partner seems to have gone rogue given what is happening in that region. Does the Government have any concerns about the Turkish Government's approach to its large Kurdish population? It does not seem to be within the framework of any rule of law, including Turkish law, including respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights.

Would the Minister of State not agree that indiscriminate military operations and the systematic use of curfews represent an unacceptable collective punishment? During this window of opportunity, will the Taoiseach raises these issues, including the tactics used in Turkey, with his Turkish counterpart? The Minister of State might have an opportunity to do so also.

Turkey is also included among what the EU is calling "safe countries of origin", which allow the asylum application process to be streamlined and applicants returned to their country of origin faster. People have concerns about Turkey’s inclusion on this list. Turkey does not meet any of the criteria, especially that of a fair application of the law within a democracy, into addition to concerns over the ongoing persecution, torture and violence that the state is conducting. Some 23.1% of people who left Turkey to claim asylum have a well-founded application. Those figures raise concerns. That is a huge number for a country of so-called "safe origin".

I note that once again, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not raised at this Council meeting. It seems that this issue, including the huge suffering of the Palestinian people, has for whatever reason dropped off the EU agenda. Since the last EU statement on the conflict in July 2015, Israel has advanced 2,410 new housing units for illegal colonial settlements.

Peace Now, an Israeli NGO, says that the Israeli government is planning to build 67,000 more illegal settlements. Will the Taoiseach and his Department raise these concerns as the prospects of creating a two-state peace process are disappearing? Will the Taoiseach ensure that Israel and Palestine will be discussed at the next European Council meeting in February? In the final days of this Government, will he abide by the motions passed in the Dáil and Seanad, and in line with the wishes of the vast majority of Irish people, to formally recognise the state of Palestine?

Tens of thousands of Polish citizens have taken to the streets in protest at the alarming anti-democratic measures of the new government there. Does our Government have concerns about that? The new Polish Government has taken control of public TV, radio and print media by firing previous directors. I am worried about the direction in which some European countries are going. Has that matter been raised at meetings with our European counterparts?

Those are some of the concerns I have. It would be helpful if Ireland's position on many such issues was clearly outlined. We should be told whether such arguments were made and if they were successful. We should not have to trawl through records to try to discover the Irish position. We should know exactly what the Irish position is on these issues when they arise, including what we said and argued for. That would reassure people at home, especially those who are sceptical about the direction in which Europe is going. Many people in Ireland would like to see Europe moving in a far different direction.

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