Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I totally disagree with the Deputy when he says that we have not saved any lives. I think we have saved thousands because we have interrupted the smugglers' model and have destroyed the boats that they used to smuggle migrants. The UN migration agency has been compiling migrant arrival data across the Mediterranean since 2014 and has reported that the number of migrants arriving by sea has continued to drop. The numbers arriving in 2018 are the lowest since the crisis began. Those are not our figures. As part of Operation Sophia, Ireland is working closely as part of the 27 EU member States making a contribution to addressing some of the root causes of migration and human trafficking as well as continuing to be involved in the rescue of migrants at sea.

When we joined Operation Sophia, Operation Pontus was a humanitarian search and rescue mission undertaken as part of Ireland's bilateral agreement with the Italian authorities. Its sole focus was the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean. Now we have joined Operation Sophia which specifically seeks to counter human trafficking and smuggling in the southern central Mediterranean by taking action against criminal networks-----

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