Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to speak on this motion and to have an opportunity once again to praise the heroic efforts of our Naval Service and the Defence Forces for the great humanitarian work they are doing in the Mediterranean. However, the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council have raised serious concerns about this motion. They refer specifically to the conclusion yesterday of a House of Lords committee inquiry that Operation Sophia has failed in its mandate to disrupt the business people - if one could call them business people as they are outrageous - smuggling individuals in the central Mediterranean, resulting in more deaths of refugees and migrants at sea. The problem, according to the committee, is that by the time the ships set sail, it is too late. However, it said that the focus on search and rescue should remain as it has been a humanitarian success.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council point out that Operation Pontus, which all of us supported, was established as a humanitarian mission with a primary focus on saving lives and that the Irish Naval Service has done tremendous humanitarian work in saving almost 16,000 lives on the Mediterranean since it began carrying out search and rescue missions in 2015. However, both bodies are extremely concerned that the proposed motion to bring Operation Pontus within the remit of EUNAVFOR MED will fundamentally change the purpose and mission of Ireland's engagement in the Mediterranean from a humanitarian one to one of surveillance, diversion and tackling smugglers. That is a broad statement and it could mean a great deal. It does not mean that the Irish people, who have been so proud of our UN peacekeepers over the years, want them on this mission.

This raises serious concerns about our neutrality. The Guardiannewspaper in the UK reports today that the number of recorded casualties on the central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy has risen by 42%, with more than 4,500 people drowning in 2016 compared with 3,175 in 2015. To date in 2017, there have been 2,150 casualties. These are staggering figures. It also reports that, as of 19 June, 110 smugglers had been arrested as a result of the mission. Most of them were lower down the food chain, just the ordinary lads in the boats. The warlords do not mind if they go into the sea as well. Only one of arrests involved a leader of a people smuggling ring, an Eritrean. These are the people who must be caught. There must be covert surveillance on them, perhaps not by our rescue mission personnel but by other nations. The naval ships in the operation have been successful in destroying 452 boats that had been used in smuggling operations.

I have serious concerns about this, about the way countries in the Middle East are being manipulated and about the Saudis, Israelis and many others. I also have serious concerns about the ongoing persecution of Christians and some minority Muslim groups in the Middle East. I found it almost impossible to have a debate on this in the House in the last two and a half or three years after I visited Lebanon with Deputies Grealish and O'Keeffe and Senator Rónán Mullen. Thanks to the Ceann Comhairle, it was raised as a Topical Issue on the evening of Holy Thursday. It was a very appropriate evening when one considers the history of the Middle East.

There are huge issues involved here. This is a neutral country and it must remain so. Our troops and the Naval Service, who do sterling work that is recognised worldwide, must be protected and kept on humanitarian duties. There is another debate about the implications of the use of Shannon Airport, but this motion could have massive implications for our troops, the Naval Service and the nation. We could become the victims of ISIS or other groups so we must be very careful not to be sucked in. We voted for the Lisbon treaty, and I was a member of the Fianna Fáil Party when the matter was put to a vote for a second time. This is the fruit of that. Now we are being coerced and bullied by the Europeans who were not very good to us when we lost our way financially. They penalised us, pilloried our people and made paupers of us. They gave us no hope. They let the rich bondholders, who had insurance, off the hook. Here, again, we have rich, very powerful people and nations manipulating the situation.

As Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan said, we are serving vested interests rather than the humanitarian interests of saving lives and trying to stop and prevent the slavery, intimidation and rape of these unfortunate people. It must be bad when they go onto these dinghies. They are sucked in by the warlords and, as I mentioned, thousands of them have perished. We must be very careful. We are playing a dangerous game here. I am disappointed that this is being rushed through, and I raised that fact at the Business Committee meeting this morning. It was agreed, reluctantly, to give each group ten minutes to speak, instead of five, on almost the last day of the session. That is not good enough. The Chief Whip tried to assure us earlier that this is only until Christmas and that it will take two months to put in place.

There are some people in the Army - I will not mention any names - who have become tired of being peacekeepers. They want more action. What business do they have in countries such as Afghanistan? Perhaps they are the tail wagging the dog here. They have become hungry for action. We cannot do that. Ours is a neutral country and it must remain neutral. Our Naval Service and peacekeepers are recognised for peacekeeping all over the world. We cannot allow them to be sucked into situations. We cannot become puppets for the big boys in Europe and elsewhere. This is a small, island country with a proud record. We cannot be aligned with these people. Our nearest neighbour across the pond, Great Britain, with which we have had many difficulties over the years, is leaving Europe. We cannot put all our eggs in one basket. The game is too dangerous. There is too much corruption and big money. There is too much of what is bad and anathema to me and the people I represent going on over there.

I visited the refugee camps in Syria. They contained only old ladies, grandmothers, some mothers and small children. Where are all the men? We cannot sleepwalk into allowing undesirables into this country, but it is happening under our noses. The Government might not wish to see it but the Garda Representative Association, GRA, and other associations have said that they are coming to this country unnoticed. That is my worry. I have no problem with taking in refugees - women, children and the old - on a humanitarian basis, but we must wake up and smell the coffee. There are people coming into this country and we will be the next to be attacked. If we take the action proposed here, we will give them an excuse to attack us. They will say that we got involved and did not fulfil the mission we had, which was to rescue people, but got war hungry and were influenced by the warmongers and the people who make the most money from these unfortunate conflicts, mainly the Saudi Arabians, given the amount of guns and everything else sold.

We see what is happening in Qatar. This all part of a big game involving money, power, oil and munitions, which is now about destroying Christianity in the Middle East and certain Muslim sects that hold different views. This is a serious problem which also affects Ireland. All of us have constituents who are worried. While they may not be experts, they see what is happening under their noses. We are not dealing with the many crises in the world.

I urge caution regarding this proposal, which I will vote against. It is shambolic that the House voted on the issue before this debate but that is the way the Government wants to proceed. We will regret this move. Army and Naval Service personnel will become targets when they cease acting as humanitarian rescuers and assume the power to stop, arrest and demobilise certain vessels. The time to do this is before refugees board the ships. Undercover operations should be used to isolate and get rid of warmongers who do not care about loading 200 people into a boat that cannot accommodate 40 or that these people are pregnant women, mothers and children.

We must stand up for our neutrality, which is close to our hearts. We have fallen into European treaties. I canvassed on some of them, including the second referendum on the Lisbon treaty, and more fool me. We are now reaping the rewards as we will be kicked out if are not good Europeans. Europe messed with us when we needed it. Europe is not our friend and we must say that. Ireland is a proud, sovereign country which must, above all, protect its citizens from those who want to come here and kill us. We have seen attacks all over Europe. For the first time, armed police are needed at GAA games, which we all love, and other sporting events. People are being body searched at these events, and about time.

We are peace-loving people who have no truck with warmongers. We should mind, salute and support our troops and Naval Service personnel. Young soldiers and sailors cannot afford to live on the wages the Minister is paying them. They and Defence Forces veterans are being treated disgracefully. We must look after our own business. This is our patch and we should look after it and let the warmongers go to hell or wherever else. They are creating enough hell for other people and do not care.

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