Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is an intensive political debate going on in Europe right now about how we can put together a collective and comprehensive response to the migrations challenges that we have. I do not agree with the Deputy when he says that our decision yesterday does not really mean anything. I was Minister for Defence when we agreed to send a ship to the Mediterranean, which was the first time we did something like that. Since then, Irish ships have rescued more than 16,000 people from the Mediterranean. Yesterday, one of our member states and friends asked for help and we gave it, there and then, by means of a practical response. We have offered to take 4,000 migrants in the context of the pressures that Italy, primarily, faces. We have taken nearly 2,000 so far. The actual figure is 1,842 and by the end of the year it will certainly be 2,000. We will take our 4,000. That is well above the figure that the quotas would have assigned to Ireland on a country-by-country, pro ratabasis. We made a conscious decision, which I remember because I was involved with it, to go well beyond the quota figure that would have been proportionate to Ireland's population. I am not pretending that Ireland is doing something extraordinary; it is not. Ireland is simply offering some modest generosity and also recognising the humanitarian crisis that faces many people in desperate circumstances. That approach will continue.

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