Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

All sides of this House have pride in the role the Irish Naval Service has played in the past in search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean. Since 2015, the Naval Service has been involved in rescuing over 18,000 people from the Mediterranean. Some 16,800 of them were rescued when Ireland had a bilateral arrangement directly focused on search and rescue. In 2017, the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, came to this House and announced his intention to change from that direct focus on search and rescue to co-operation as part of Operation Sofia. I was one of those who expressed concern at the time. The Minister of State directly said that transferring to Operation Sofia would result in the redeployment of the Irish Naval Service from primarily humanitarian search and rescue operations to primarily security and interception operations. We warned that the cost would be felt in people's lives and in an increase in the numbers dying in the Mediterranean. We have seen an increase in the numbers dying in the Mediterranean. More than 721 deaths at sea occurred in June and July 2018. In September 2018, one in five migrants drowned or disappeared when trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya. The figures are very stark and the impact is very stark.

We have now been told that Operation Sofia will abandon search and rescue altogether. The very small focus that was there will be gone and the Irish Naval Service will not be participating in any form of search and rescue under Operation Sofia. We have seen the Naval Service members themselves speaking about their concern. I was very moved by Brian Fitzgerald, a branch commander on the LÉ Eithne. He spoke about a woman who had given birth after they rescued her. He held that baby in his arms one hour after it was born and said, "I do not know where your mother has come from and I do not know where you are going at this moment, but at this moment you are safe in my arms." He said making a difference is one of the reasons people join the Defence Forces and that, in terms of making a difference, this had been second to none.

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, to this House to tell us what the plans are for new humanitarian missions that the Irish Naval Service may undertake in the Mediterranean. Will we be engaging with the English navy in respect of the coast of Turkey, for example? Are there other options, either on our own or bilaterally? It is not enough for us to know what happens and turn our backs. It is certainly not enough for us to leave this issue to Libya, the Libyan coastguard and the deeply inhumane conditions, condemned by the UN, that prevail in Libyan detention centres. I know that the Leader feels strongly about this himself and I ask him to bring the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, to the House to discuss how we can move forward in a compassionate way.