Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to bring today's debate to a conclusion. As the Taoiseach has mentioned, I will focus my remarks on the items covered at the summit under the heading of external relations.

The European Council adopted conclusions on Libya, where the situation remains most fragile. There has been some welcome progress since the signing of a political agreement in December, but the Government of national accord still has to be fully endorsed. The conclusions are quite clear. All groups must work with the Government of national accord as the sole legitimate government in Libya. This is necessary to restore stability and face the many challenges that are present there. The European Union continues to stand ready to support Libya.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, made a presentation to the European Council on the new EU global strategy on foreign and security policy. The presentation was welcomed by the European Council. The previous strategy was published in 2003. There have, of course, been profound changes in the international context in which we now operate. Ireland was actively engaged within the European Union in the process of consultation on the new strategy. Irish perspectives and concerns have been taken on board to a large extent in the document. I refer to my comments earlier on this matter in response to Deputy Pringle. The High Representative, the Commission and the Council have been invited to take the work forward and we would be happy to keep the House informed of developments in this regard.

In respect of EU-NATO affairs, the European Council agreed that in light of new security challenges, there should be further practical co-operation between the European Union and NATO in certain areas, including in respect of hybrid threats, which cross the boundary between military, policing, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and other dimensions. Twenty-two EU member states are members of NATO and strongly wish to see such co-operation develop. However, the conclusions contain clear confirmation that future EU-NATO co-operation will fully respect the decision-making autonomy of both organisations and will not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of member states. We were to the fore, therefore, in insisting that these long-standing guarantees, already enshrined in the treaty, be clearly reiterated. There is a strong acknowledgement that Ireland's policy of neutrality and non-NATO membership will in no way be adversely affected by the enhanced co-operation.

The European Council also heard from the Dutch Prime Minister on the outcome of the ballot in his country in April on the EU association agreement with Ukraine. Dutch voters voted against the agreement in an advisory referendum. The Council has now been invited to seek a solution addressing the concerns raised by voters. This is expected to be done as soon as possible.

On the relationship between the UK and the EU, as the Taoiseach has already said, the majority of the European Council's time was given over to the outcome of the UK's referendum on membership of the European Union. As is well understood in this House, although the outcome was not what we had hoped for, contingency planning has been in progress for some time and a contingency framework is firmly in place. We are now working to define our interests further and to ensure these are well understood by our EU partners in the time ahead. As the Taoiseach set out at the European Council, we have key concerns, including Northern Ireland, the common travel area and our interconnected trade. In this regard, I have maintained intensive contact with my EU counterparts. I will continue to ensure our concerns are well understood at European Union level. I travel on Friday to see my German colleague and I will host the Italian Minister for foreign affairs here in Dublin next week. I have already been speaking to my colleagues from Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, in the context of the aftermath of the referendum. It is my view that bilateral visits of this sort continue to offer a vital opportunity to build relationships with our EU partners and will be of ever more importance into the future.

I might just take a moment to respond briefly to Deputy Smith's question regarding Ireland's response to the migration crisis. I acknowledge that there are difficulties, but at EU level, we have consistently called for an approach that addresses the root causes as well as the humanitarian challenges involved. I acknowledge that progress on resettlement has been good. We have already taken in more than half the 273 persons we pledged to take. We are on course to meet our target of 520 refugees by the end of this year. I accept that progress on relocation, which I think was the point raised by Deputy Smith, has been slow, but it has been slow not only for Ireland but for of our partners. There are 38 persons in Ireland. This low number is due to a variety of reasons outside our control, including administrative and operational difficulties. However, we are anxious to see progress on that and Ireland will continue to work towards reaching decisions on this issue. In the meantime, I wish to confirm to the House again that Ireland has provided in excess of €46 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria and the region over recent years.

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