Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach shared his assessment of Brexit developments with EU leaders last week. Next week's budget is being prepared on a no-deal basis. Will the Taoiseach share with us the key outcome of that meeting and his discussions with Ursula von der Leyen?

Was there any agreement on taking action against Belarus? It appears to us in the Labour Party that the European Union has been very slow to speak strongly and with one voice about the rise of unrest across Europe and the rise of right-wing, almost neo-fascist, sentiment throughout the European Continent and within the European Union.

The Taoiseach will be aware of a high-profile campaign, the 400 Welcomes campaign, which calls for the relocation of 400 refugees after a fire which took place at the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos in Greece which affected over 13,000 refugees. Ireland has agreed to take 50. The Taoiseach will agree we could do an awful lot more, given our history and that we are the people of Famine ships and immigration which has seen us settle all over the world. We know Famine and we know sectarian violence and have fled from it. As part of our historical national moral obligation, we should look at the situation in this camp in Greece and accept the fact that taking 50, while welcome, is not anywhere near enough. Will the Taoiseach, along with the various Ministers with responsibility for this, consider increasing that number to 400? It is expected of us internationally to live up to our own history and moral responsibility. I think the Taoiseach will agree we should do more.

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