Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My understanding is that legally they do not have to meet and that this can be addressed by way of letter but whether other member states might request a meeting or a summit has yet to be determined. There may be a meeting between now and next Thursday.

In regard to Catalonia, I do not know if the Taoiseach raised this issue. I am sure that he has had conversations with his colleague in Spain and with other leaders. We had statements in the House last night on this issue. This is an important matter. We are concerned about what is happening in Spain but we must, and will, always respect the constitutional and territorial integrity of Spain. We need to ensure that anything that happens, be it in Spain or Catalonia, is determined by their own citizens through their own institutions and in keeping with the rule of law. I have no doubt that in any conversations the Taoiseach may have had on the issue, he will have reiterated these sentiments.

On the migrants issue, I find this quite upsetting. Where anybody dies in such a manner, it is a failure of all of us. It is an extremely frustrating conversation that I have been having with my colleagues over the past two years when it arises at the General Affairs Council. We do, and want to, support any mechanisms that are put in place. As a country, we are not to the forefront like Greece, Spain and Italy but we have a role to play. We have a duty to ensure that our voices are heard such that where there are unfair practices, such that people are dying in this manner, we speak up and condemn it as a failure on all of our parts. It is important that as a Union we work together to ensure that those who are geographically at the forefront of this are supported. As a country, we have tried to do this through Operation Sophia and by opting-in to taking 4,000 migrants although we are not at that number yet. We will continue, where we can, to take in as many as we can.

On the particular issue, my understanding is that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and his officials are engaging with officials in the UK to determine what happened. My understanding is that the migrants travelled through Ireland but that has not been confirmed. We need to understand how this happened, how it was allowed to happen and how we can ensure it does not happen again. As I said, for anybody to die in that way is unacceptable.

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