Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State to withdraw those comments or, at least, to explain or justify them. There are so many things I would like to discuss but in the three minutes I have I will focus on the direction that Europe is heading, and has been heading for a long time. I proudly canvassed against the Lisbon and Nice treaties on the grounds of the militarisation of Europe. That militarisation continues unabated and I judge the comments of the Minister of State within that context. If I was in any doubt at all, that was dispelled by the comments of Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He is unelected. Addressing the former holder of that post, who is now the director of the College of Europe in Bruges, in the context of a pilot project for the training of diplomats, he stated:

Bruges is a good example of the European garden. Yes, Europe is a garden. We have built a garden. Everything works. [He goes on to tell us everything that works]

The rest of the world - and you know this very well, Federica [His predecessor] - is not exactly a garden. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden.

This is the man in charge of foreign policy in the EU. He went on and on. That is the language he used. I have serious difficulties with that. I wish I had time to elaborate on it, but I do not.

One year ago today, Israel declared six organisations to be terrorist organisations. Many Deputies have asked questions on that issue and we have been told the Government remains seriously concerned. Other than it being seriously concerned, not a step has been taken in respect of Israel's action. Six human rights organisations were designated as terrorist organisations. Arms conferences or arms fairs are hosted in Dublin. There is a duplicity of language and a dual role in all this and, all the time, the Government is building up the State's military alliance with Europe - I absolutely deplore that alliance - without the permission of the Irish people. The Taoiseach likes to talk about Orwell. To refer to this as the European peace facility is to use Orwellian language.

It is terrible that there are now multiple layers in terms of how refugees are treated. I am sure the Minister of State has seen the article published yesterday in The Irish Timesin respect of naked refugees on the border between Greece and Turkey. The UN Refugee Agency has called for an investigation into the matter. The incident is a direct result of what the EU has done in terms of its agreement with Turkey going back to 2016.

There is also the double role in Ireland when it comes to asylum seekers. Apart from family reunification, not a single person from Afghanistan has been taken in, despite the promises that were made. I will stop mid-sentence to allow my colleague in.

See this speech in context