Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I extend my condolences, once again, and my party's sympathies to the families of those who were killed or injured in Brussels this morning and I condemn in the strongest possible terms these horrendous attacks. News is still emerging about the extent of the attacks and the scale of the casualties. I extend the solidarity of Sinn Féin to the people of Belgium at this difficult time.

I will limit my remarks on the European Council to the refugee crisis because the conclusions of the latest Council meeting make for sober reading. Since Sunday all so-called irregular migrants who arrive in Greece are supposed to be sent back to Turkey, a country with a deplorable human rights record and a history of discriminating against minorities. The Taoiseach agreed to this. We are being told that everyone will first be screened and that only those who are deemed to be what the European Union considers irregular will be sent back across the Aegean. More than 800,000 refugees landed on Greek islands last year, yet the Taoiseach now thinks that Greece can rapidly set up a functioning and quality refugee screening programme while 2,000 refugees a day continue to arrive on makeshift boats from Turkey. We are being told that there will be no mass expulsions and that international and European law will be respected, but does the Taoiseach really believe that Greece, which is dealing with the social and economic fallout of its disgraceful treatment by the Eurogroup, including Ministers of his own Government, will be able to process hundreds of thousands of asylum claims and appeals in record time while at the same time respecting European and international laws and standards? Why does the Taoiseach ignore the concerns of notable human rights organisations and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees who stated that this deal will inevitably lead to human rights violations? Oxfam accused the EU of trading human beings for political concessions to Turkey, a country the EU has defined as a safe country of origin despite the mass human and civil rights violations that are being committed there.

The response to the refugee crisis has been inadequate. What is important for this Dáil and the people of this island is that the Taoiseach has agreed to it and is going along with it. It is a further attempt to shift the problem away from the EU and to close our eyes to what can only be described as a humanitarian catastrophe.

Last year, the agreed plan was to relocate 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy to other EU countries, and Sinn Féin supported it. The Taoiseach's announcement that the State would take in 4,000 refugees was a start to finding solutions, although we called on the Government to do more and to create more legal avenues for refugees to be resettled here. To date, only 885 people have been relocated to other European states and only a handful have been relocated here. This is a disgrace in the face of the humanitarian crisis that has been building up for years. As an island people, with our history of coffin ships, we should have more affinity with those who are fleeing devastating war, hunger and oppression to seek asylum in Europe.

Today, the Taoiseach repeated that he had agreed to improve humanitarian conditions and establish safe areas within Syria. More than 250,000 people have been killed in Syria and 11 million people have been displaced, almost twice the population of this entire island. What is the price of returning vulnerable and desperate people to the place from which they have tried to flee? The EU will pay Turkey €3 billion and offer to open a further chapter in accession talks, despite Turkey's continuing occupation of half of Cyprus and its continued and well documented violations of human rights.

The founding principles of the EU were to combat social exclusion and discrimination, promote social justice and protection, protect human rights, foster solidarity between generations and protect the rights of the child. The latest decisions of the European Council show up the reality of these principles in practice, when the Mediterranean Sea has been turned into a graveyard. The EU, with the Taoiseach's acceptance, is planning to deport vulnerable and desperate men, women and children to the lowest bidder.

Last year, Naval Service vessels engaged in humanitarian actions in the Mediterranean saved thousands of lives, and we are thankful for and very proud of them. Each day, more refugees continue to drown. When will the Government reallocate a Naval Service vessel to the region?

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