Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I noted a report at the weekend that the Taoiseach might be in line for the job of President of the European Council. I wonder whether the possible job for Deputy Enda Kenny in Europe is the reward for the best-boy-in-the-class routine he has pursued in terms of implementing some of the misguided and cruel policies of the European Union directed against both the people of this country and millions of people across the wider European Union. There was also the EU's brutal and inhumane treatment of desperate people trying to come to Europe and flee war, civil conflict and desperate circumstances in north Africa and the Middle East. The Taoiseach has failed to speak out against the failures, cruelties and injustices for which Europe has been responsible and, worse, has enthusiastically endorsed the cruel, misguided and bankrupt policies that have been pursued. I will cite a few of them and ask the Taoiseach what position he will take on them. Will he speak out about what is right or will he continue to stay silent and toe the European line to secure the top job in Europe?

The European Union has just concluded a deal with Libya, if one can describe Libya as a state. It is a failed state. It has collapsed and there are now three factions running it. Incredibly, the European Union claims to care about women and children. We heard the Taoiseach speak today about how much he cares about the women and children who suffered in the Bon Secours institution in Tuam. Does he care about what human rights organisations are saying about the EU's deal with Libya? They have described the deal as one in which the EU is ready to sacrifice thousands of vulnerable men, women and children to stop them reaching European shores by herding them into warehouses run by armed militias in Libya. The EU will pay these Libyan forces - one could not call them a government - €200 million to prevent physically 1 million refugees in Libya trying to get away from the disaster in Libya and these horrific warehouses where, according to those who reach Europe's shores, people are being raped, abused and starved. The civil rights situation in Libya is horrific and it is the major incentive for people trying to flee across the Mediterranean, where many drown, to gain access to Europe, where the doors are closed.

This is the second shameful deal the EU has made. Previously, it made a deal with Turkey, whose regime also has a brutal human rights record. Undoubtedly, these deals run counter to the European Convention on Human Rights in terms of their treatment of migrants by shoving them back into appalling conditions and into the hands of regimes that have no regard for human rights.

Why is the Taoiseach not speaking out on these matters, on the shameful treatment of desperate, vulnerable people?

Incredibly, it appears that there has been a blanket ban operating for the past two years in this country on Libyans being granted family reunification. In many cases, these Libyans are qualified professionals. I know of one Libyan who has submitted a family reunification application. He is a medical doctor and has been offered a job as a registrar in Galway University Hospital but his application has been turned down. He has been told that it is okay for him to stay in Libya, where an horrendous situation pertains. There seems to be a blanket ban for people like that doctor and other desperate people from Libya but with two notable exceptions. If a Libyan is associated with the oil or beef industry, he or she can come here. We all know how important oil is to Europe and beef is to the beef barons in this country. Is that our immigration policy now? Is that what the Taoiseach is doing in terms of speaking up for the human rights of desperate, vulnerable people in Europe?

Europe often portrays itself as a defender of progressive social values. However, a report published today, on International Women's Day, shows that the gender pay gap is widening and getting worse. The gap between what men and women earn for doing the same job is growing in Europe. Ireland is at the bottom of the league table in this deteriorating scenario of increasing gender inequality in paid employment. Incredibly, the situation is getting worse.

In stark contrast, as we speak we see scenes on O'Connell Bridge and all across the country, of a generation of young women demanding an end to their second class status as women and an end to the horrendous treatment that has been meted out to them by this State, from the Magdalen laundries, the Bethany homes, the Tuam Bon Secours scandal and so on. These women want equality. They are on the streets today, demanding equality but the European Union is not only failing to deliver that equality, it is actually presiding over worsening inequality in terms of the treatment of women.

Does Deputy Paul Murphy wish to speak?

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