Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I attended the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly at the weekend and Brexit's long shadow had an impact in the sense that many MPs had to leave early on the first day for a vote that in the end did not happen. That is an indication of how Brexit is impacting on the relationship between the two islands. The result of last night's vote in the House of Commons means that the uncertainty will continue. It is welcome that the Taoiseach has informed Donald Tusk that he believes there should be an extension of the Brexit deadline. A no-deal Brexit would be devastating and must be avoided at all costs.

It is welcome that the conclusions of the European Council meeting state the European Union condemned Turkey's unilateral military action in north-east Syria, which is causing unacceptable human suffering and undermining the fight against Da'esh. The European Union also called on Turkey to end its military action, withdraw its forces and respect international humanitarian law. We know that Turkey's aim is to occupy the Kurdish majority area and attack the Kurdish-led Syrian democratic forces. The Turkish Government wants to ethnically cleanse the region. We have already seen the human rights violations the Turkish army has committed against Kurds in south-east Turkey. It is clear that its brutal tactics will be replicated in northern Syria with the help of its jihadist proxies. Videos on social media prove these proxies are involved in summary executions, torture, sexual violence and war crimes.

The Government could do more. Medical centres and hospitals have been attacked and destroyed by Turkey. Kurdish civil defence and medical organisations are in desperate need of medical supplies and life-saving equipment. The Taoiseach should ensure Ireland will respond urgently in a positive way to this plea for assistance and other efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis caused by Turkish intervention in Syria.

I am disappointed that there is no mention of the imprisonment of nine Catalan political and civic society leaders in the conclusions of the European Council meeting. I attended the trial and saw at first hand the lack of evidence produced against those convicted. The jailing of these political prisoners is an affront to democratic values and should be a source of huge concern to democrats and all those who believe in freedom. We have to talk. We are supportive of the way forward being through dialogue. What, therefore, will the Government do to kick-start that dialogue?

I welcome the European Council's strong statement condemning Turkey's illegal drilling activities in the Cyprus exclusive economic zone and reaffirming its solidarity with Cyprus. I extend Sinn Féin's solidarity to Cyprus in the matter.

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