Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I am disappointed with the Ministers' speeches tonight. They have not captured the mood in the country. They certainly have not captured the mood of the view of Deputies on all sides of the House. We do not want to hear that, as a small country, we cannot do this. What people want to hear tonight is what we can do and we want to hear it from the Ministers before the end of this debate.

One of the most positive things that we can bring to this debate is the generosity of the Irish people, and it is clearly evident. One Deputy stated there was a huge outpouring of support from Irish people who wanted to open up their homes to Syrian children after the death of a young child, and I heard the same. That feeling is still evident right across the country, in fact, it has grown, and the Government has not reflected that.

I am conscious that tonight in the Public Gallery there are volunteers who have done amazing work in assisting destitute human beings, including children, in Calais. I have never met Ms Karen Moynihan of the Refugee Youth Service in Calais but from what I have heard, she is a phenomenal person doing priceless day-to-day work to assist hundreds of vulnerable children in that camp. Ireland is in such a unique and opportune position in that it has such amazing volunteers who now have biographical files and have built trusting relationships with many of these children. We are in a perfect position to take a small proportion of these children and help reshape and bring hope back into their lives. The big positive, as they say, is that this House wants to get this done.

Over 800 people contacted the Irish Red Cross. Let us act on that. There is no legal impediment to relocating these children and there is no shortage of public and political support for it. The excuses are worn out and not credible. It is time for action. Can you imagine, just for one second, the journey of those children and the experiences that they went through coming to Europe? Can you imagine what they have seen and experienced on that journey?

The children are aware of what is being said about them. They are being told. They are listening to the media and listening to social media. They are being labelled as a threat, a burden and something to be afraid of. Why can we not be the first country to say, "You are wanted. You are welcome. There is room for you here on our shores."?

That is the message. It is quite simple. It comes from the heart. One need only listen to some of the stories of what is happening in Calais. One would want a heart of stone not to be moved. It is not a case where we want to see action 12 months or 16 months down the line. We want to see it happening now. That is what this debate is about. It is about action happening now.

See this speech in context