Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach said earlier in reply to me that nobody should be trying to make political gain out of migration. Will he distance himself from the conclusions of the European Council meeting and from Deputy Haughey's comments just now? The meeting represented a further hardening of the fortress Europe policy. The tone was set by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Italy, followed by the so-called centre right. There was agreement on reinforced co-operation on search and rescue missions in the central Mediterranean, a reference to the activity of NGOs that have saved the lives of people who would otherwise drown as a result of fortress Europe policies. A total of 25,000 people have died in the past nine years as a consequence of fortress Europe, which is being strengthened and strengthened. Over the past eight years, the aggregate length of fences at the EU's external borders has gone from 315 km to more than 2,000 km. There has been no attempt to address the illegal and violent pushing back of refugees into the ocean where they could drown. Will the Taoiseach reject this fortress Europe policy, which serves the interests of nobody?

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