Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As we speak here tonight we should remember the face of Omran Daqneesh, the three year old left bloodied and distraught after an air strike on his home in Aleppo. We should remember the face of Aylan Kurdi, a three year old Syrian child found drowned on a beach. There have been many other Omrans and Aylans, but their faces and their names will never be known to us.

This Government and the Ministers must stop stalling on this issue and focus on what we can and should do. Ireland has a proud history of humanitarian action. As a nation we have always responded generously to the suffering of others. We must live up to that reputation now. We need to play our part, and a leading role, in helping our European neighbours cope with the humanitarian crisis they face, and a good start would be to welcome 200 children to our shores.

The famous political theorist, Hannah Arendt, a refugee from Nazi Germany, wrote about what it felt like to be stateless and unwanted. She reminded us that we are not born free. It is our institutions that make people equal and our organisations that enable us to live in freedom. We should give these 200 children the equality, freedom and dignity they deserve. They have fled from homelands rich in history and culture which have been destroyed in their wake. They have talents and dreams, and they now want to be part of a new society.

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