Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, cover the European Council, Angela Merkel, Turkey, migration and housing. There are a lot of issues involved. We must be fair to everybody. I am open to the approach outlined but the discussion could become very general.

One of the defining challenges of our time across Europe is the growth of populist extremism. The ideals of free democracies are under attack and democracy generally is under very significant attack across the globe. Democracies are under attack in Europe in particular. The defeat of the far right candidate in the Austrian election is extremely welcome but it went far too close. The European Union is flawed and it often fails to apply its own founding principles. Those who spend their time attacking it for that reason ignore the much worse, more extensive and more aggressive policies of other countries. Will the Taoiseach give an assurance that he will oppose any efforts to soften the European Union's position in defence of Ukrainian sovereignty and also if he will support increased support for civil society and human rights organisations operating in countries bordering the European Union, many of whom are under a lot of pressure?

I welcome one development in recent years, namely, the European Endowment for Democracy which supports democracy and human rights activists in many countries. Unfortunately, Ireland is not a contributor to the fund and in a recent vote in the European Parliament Irish Members of the main far left group either opposed or refused to support the fund. Will the Taoiseach agree to reconsider Irish funding for the European Endowment for Democracy?

Discussions on the restructuring of Greece's debts are still ongoing with the European Union. There is no doubt whatsoever that Greece needs a significant improvement in terms of its debt, in both the duration and cost of the debt. Given how much Ireland has benefited from previous deals negotiated between the European Union and Greece, will the Taoiseach confirm that Ireland is supportive of Greece and is not just blindly following the damaging hardline stance of some of the other countries?

I listened carefully to the Taoiseach's comments on Turkey. Question No. 2 relates to the replacement of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and a clear change in both culture and behaviour within the Turkish political world. When we discussed the outcome of recent summits, I said the deal with Turkey, in particular relating to the migrant crisis, is not one of which we can be proud, and it is not one we can be confident will stay in place. The Taoiseach referred to recent developments. In recent days there has been a dramatic disimprovement in the political situation with a move to prosecute the majority of opposition MPs, thereby giving the ruling party a majority big enough to change the constitution. Many of the alleged crimes involve so-called "giving offence to the President". This is a final move effectively to criminalise dissent. We must end the pretence that this is behaviour compatible in any way with democratic practices or that it is acceptable for a candidate country. I want the Taoiseach to call this in a very direct and straight way. He said in his reply that it remains to be seen what will happen. It is quite obvious what is happening in Turkey and that has been the case for some time. There has been a move away from the democratic norms and values that the European Union has always said had to underpin any relationship with Turkey, and in particular in terms of visa liberalisation to the Schengen area and also in terms of opening a negotiating chapter pertaining to Turkey's application for European Union membership. The European Union negotiated at a very weak moment for the Union in terms of its incapacity to deal with the migration crisis. As the Taoiseach said in his reply, the European Union is now dealing with a regime that has a lot of questions to answer in terms of the very basic issues pertaining to human rights, the freedom of the media and the rule of law. What is the European Union going to do about it and, more important, what is the Government's position on developments within Turkey and, in particular, on the recently negotiated deal with Turkey?

In terms of the migrant crisis, the stories emanating from Calais are appalling. It is an absolute scandal the condition in which thousands of people are living in the Port of Calais alone, notwithstanding the wider issue of migrants coming across Europe.

In the Irish context, the Taoiseach stated we had accepted or agreed to take 4,000 people. He should correct me if I am wrong and might clarify this point again but he stated that only ten people have arrived.

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