Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government states that the Government will "offer safe haven for refugees under EU and UN resettlement and relocation programmes, while promoting the integration of refugees in our communities". The crisis was brought home to us not just on our television screens but in the news yesterday that five people, including a child, were found inside a container in County Wexford. These are Kurdish citizens fleeing persecution and war and seeking asylum here.

There is precious little evidence of the Government providing a safe haven in recent years despite the huge crisis for refugees from the Middle East and north Africa fleeing war, famine and poverty. Our Naval Service personnel have done a commendable job. They have saved thousands of lives, but the Government has not matched that. Last year, it committed to accepting 4,000 refugees, which is a very small number relative to the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe that is ongoing, but it failed to reach this number.

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