Dáil debates

Wednesday, 26 January 2022

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements

 

4:12 pm

Photo of Thomas ByrneThomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before I conclude, I will briefly answer one or two of the other points. Deputy O'Sullivan raised some interesting environmental and ecological points, which I will certainly bring those to the attention of our officials, regarding potentiality under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Deputy Cathal Crowe referred to Afghanistan. The situation is, obviously, very challenging. We in Ireland continue to support the Afghan people by working to address the dire humanitarian situation there. On 22 December, we supported the resolution at the UN Security Council exempting humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan from UN sanctions. This is very important. We continue to demand that the Taliban allows unhindered access to humanitarian personnel. Today at the Security Council, and probably while we speak, Ireland will express its grave concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation for women and girls in Afghanistan. In 2021, we provided €5.3 million in humanitarian aid.

Deputy Jackie Cahill mentioned food security. We do not always remember how important the issue is. It is one of the reasons the EU was founded. It was because of that lack of food security after the Second World War. It is always worth bearing in mind that this was one of the reasons we are in the Union, and one of the fundamental reasons for the Common Agricultural Policy, which is to protect food security in Europe. The Deputy raised very important points that need to be discussed on an urgent basis.

I join in the sympathies expressed by Members on the death of Mr. David Sassoli, the President of the European Parliament.

On crisis management and resilience, the December European Council endorsed the conclusions agreed at the General Affairs Council on 23 November, which I attended, and they invited our Council to take this work forward, and we are to do that. This followed the earlier discussion in June taking stock of work to enhance our collective preparedness, response capability, and resilience to future crises. The integrated political crisis response arrangements developed in 2013 have been flexible and useful for addressing the Covid-19 pandemic. Building resilience against future crises means working now to strengthen the Single Market, particularly by removing unnecessary barriers to trade in services, where there is so much untapped potential. We will keep this topic under review.

I will now turn to external aspects of migration. I believe that this issue deserves much greater debate and focus in Ireland. Strengthening the external dimension of migration covers a number of issues such as returns and readmission; border management; targeting people smugglers; protection solutions and dignified reception facilities, which is a major topic of discussion in Ireland; legal migration pathways; and addressing the root causes of migration. Leaders discussed the importance of addressing migration in a whole-of-route and comprehensive approach. Nine priority countries have been identified for action plans: Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Nigeria, Niger, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Taoiseach will attend the EU–African Union Summit next month. This will be an important milestone in our relationship with Africa. Ireland wants a more ambitious and effective EU-Africa partnership. At the European Council in December, EU leaders discussed the preparations for the summit and the possible themes and deliverables. The EU aims to establish an ambitious future-oriented alliance with Africa that can build an area of prosperity and stability, underpinned by a transformational investment package. Ireland will be strongly supportive of those initiatives. Leaders also discussed the situation in Ethiopia. Leaders were in agreement on the urgent need to ensure the protection of civilians and to ensure unhindered humanitarian access, and called for an unconditional ceasefire and for all parties to engage in an inclusive dialogue. Ireland has played a leading role in the international response to the crisis, in particular at the UN Security Council and at the EU. A coherent EU response is critical. Such a response should include a strategy to increase political and financial pressure on the parties to de-escalate and to incentivise humanitarian access.

On the issue of EU-UK relations, while not discussed specifically at the Council, discussions are continuing between the EU and the UK. I note that some issues have arisen today around statements by certain parties, but we have had a very calm. firm and listening approach to this. We want to make sure we can deliver solutions to some of the problems that Brexit has caused in Northern Ireland. I am confident that we have seen a move from the UK towards real discussions. From what the UK is saying, I detect a focus on fixing problems rather than simply, as some used to say, scrapping the protocol, which was never going to happen. The protocol is here and is a legally binding international document. We have the full support for and confidence in Maroš Šefčovič and the Commission team. They brief us regularly at the General Affairs Council, and the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and our colleagues who were in Strasbourg at the weekend also. It is very useful dialogue and engagement, and we are very grateful for that. We will let those negotiations continue knowing that they are in good hands.

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