Dáil debates

Wednesday, 4 July 2018

European Council: Statements

 

3:30 pm

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

That was a disastrous intervention. You will remember, a Cheann Comhairle, our time in Egypt when we met the authorities there and they pointed out that to its west Libya was in flames, to the right, Syria was in flames, to the south, Yemen was in flames and Iraq was in flames to the south east. In each of those countries there was international intervention. I keep going back to the same questions. What is our place? What is our role? What is our benefit? You will recall the discussion we had, a Cheann Comhairle, with the Arab League. It was apparent from that visit that one of the strengths we have is that we come with a different perspective in that we are not the experts on everything. We are not telling everyone what to do. We are not taking sides. That is a useful position for Ireland as a neutral state. It does not need investment in PESCO for us to provide that role. It needs investment in the overseas aid budget, in honouring the sustainable development goals and in aligning ourselves to that strategy. The world needs countries like that at the moment. The world needs Ireland to step up to the plate and we could benefit from it. We would feel as a people that it does us proud and its suits our tradition in a variety of different ways.

As part of that, and in response to the ongoing migration crisis, we should take more than the 25 additional programme refugees I understand we recently agreed to take from Malta. It is important that it is not just an issue for the Austrians, the Italians or other countries on the border. As distant as we are from the immediate entry points, we should be willing to review the Dublin convention and we should be willing to play a more proactive role. That is all the more important in a world where both America and Britain are going down the route of economic nationalism. That is not the way to go. It is a way which leads to conflict and competition rather than to co-operation, which is what we need. Ireland stands out. We are between those two big countries, which are historically powerful. We are small. We are only a little cork on the ocean of what is going on but if we stand up and are an example of what might work in an alternative way, it would not be insignificant and could play a beneficial role. We should grab that opportunity. More than anything else, I am keen to hear what the Minister of State has to say. Let us grab the opportunity and invest in overseas aid. Let us ramp it up in a way that does us proud and sends out a signal that this, more than anything, is the way to go to manage migration..

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