Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to express disappointment with the content and tone of the comments made by Deputy Mattie McGrath. Tonight is a night for statements on the humanitarian crisis in Calais and what we should do to respond to it. It was not an opportunity to speak about hauliers. There are separate, genuine issues regarding difficulties hauliers have, but tonight was not the night for that. The Deputy caused a sense of disappointment in the tone he took. It was unfortunate. The idea of discriminating between children under six and over six is shocking and beneath what anybody should say in this House.

I think anybody who has had children or knows anything about children finds it impossible to visualise just how dreadful it must be for the many thousands of children who are separated from their parents and their families. When one considers the treacherous journeys many of these children and young people have made and the fact that they are living in the most appalling conditions, it is unimaginable how they can keep body and soul together. One wonders how on earth they manage to survive and hold on to any bit of sanity at all.

I think the Irish people, when they see the scenes unfolding on their television screens every night, generally respond by way of gut reaction. It is a gut reaction and a human reaction. Most of all, I think it is a sense of shame: shame about the fact that other human beings are being treated in such a way and left in such awful conditions; shame, particularly, about the fact that so many of those people are children and teenagers; and a deep sense of shame about the fact that this is happening on EU soil. There is therefore a very strong demand from the public that we as a people and that our Government do the right thing.

People feel that it is especially important that we all think about our own children and what we would want to happen to them if they found themselves in those circumstances. People reflect on their family circumstances and their own feelings. That is why we have got this very strong gut reaction from people. They are saying that this is wrong. Children should not be treated like this and we, as Irish people, need to do something about that.

People are saying that what the Government has been doing to date is simply not good enough. We need urgent action to respond to this urgent problem. Of course, we know that the Calais jungle should have been addressed in 2002 when the original reception centre was closed. We should not have waited until conditions reached a point at which, on a daily basis, 500 people were obliged to queue just to get food. Such situations need to be addressed head-on and must never again be left until they reach crisis point. However, this is a crisis of our own making and Europe needs to change course in its approach to the refugee crisis. As Europeans, we must face up to our responsibility in this regard.

It is quite incredible that the current European budget for dealing with refugees and related issues is structured in the way that it is. The draft budget foresees almost €300 million of a contribution to FRONTEX, which is the organisation for the management and arrangement of borders. At the same time, just over than half of that amount, €153 million, is set aside for European Asylum Support Office functions. Almost twice the amount of funds have been allocated to managing borders that are assisting countries with the asylum process than that allocated in respect of refugees. Ireland needs to push this issue on the international stage and play its role strongly in facilitating the speedy relocation of children. We are well-placed to do so, as several speakers have said. Tusla has considerable experience in meeting the needs of unaccompanied minors or separated children. Of course, Irish people want to do what is right.

There is a high level of consensus in this House about what needs to be done and that it needs to be done urgently. There is a strong demand from the public that we should act and act quickly. We have all been struck by the number of e-mails we have received in recent days and the strength of the sentiments expressed in them. Just to give a flavour of that, the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, released a statement as follows:

NYCI is calling for immediate action to care for the children and young people at the Calais camp. When countries were pulling out of the Mediterranean during the current humanitarian crisis, Ireland stepped in and sent its Naval Services to coordinate and assist.

We are all very proud of that. The statement goes on:

There is precedent there to help and we in Ireland can be proud of this. But now we must act again.

What is needed now is an agreed plan of action that will see children and young people placed in Ireland immediately ... an action plan that delivers [is what is needed now]. Let’s see those who are amongst the most disadvantaged and endangered group of young people in the world safely relocated in Ireland with the best of care and services available to them.

That expresses the current sentiment of the Irish people.

I received another communication from a volunteer teacher who has been in Calais. He said that during his time working there, he came to know many of those young people very well and was inspired by their determination, kindness and enthusiasm for school. Despite the fact that they were living in terrible circumstances, in fear for their lives and with all kinds of things happening during the night, they still turned up enthusiastically for school. He is imploring us, as representatives of the public, to choose love and compassion, not fear, and to support the call to rescue these children. It is important to point out that Uplift were able to gather up a list of almost 8,000 names just in the last few days demanding that we take action. It is also important to point out the work that Not On Our Watch has been doing in recent times and recent days in providing briefings for people and in outlining a course of action.

It is unfortunate that we are just having statements tonight. A draft motion was circulated last week. That motion would have had the majority of support in this House. It is unfortunate that Government chose to go with statements instead of a motion. There is an excellent motion that has been produced by Not On Our Watch and it is hoped that it can be taken next week. The motion in question sets out very clearly the views of the Irish people in terms of what needs to be done now. This is what is required. We must act as human beings with generosity and love. That is required. The Ministers' performance tonight and their response have been extremely disappointing. They must show now that they understand what the Irish people are saying. It is time for leadership.

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