Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

These are the core points again. I am aware the decision was made to go with a certain approach in terms of a defence but I urge the Minister of State to strongly consider the point on the exemption and to consider the fact the exemption, as I stated earlier, is in fact a middle ground. We are already seeing a more robust set of laws that might be applied. An exemption for humanitarian actors is the centre ground in this and it would ensure we do not have a number of jeopardies. The jeopardy he is talking about concerns the defence and that we would have people convicted. However, the danger is not simply that we would have people wrongly convicted; the danger is wrongful prosecution. There is a danger we would have people prosecuted and that legally, they should be prosecuted, and maybe they have a defence. They would be prosecuted and then would have to use this as a defence. The defence sits in between prosecution and conviction, but the danger is in prosecution.

The greater danger which then flows from that is the danger of a chilling effect on humanitarian action, on good Samaritan acts and on search and rescue. We must look at that in the context of there having been a very significant withdrawal from humanitarian search and rescue. Ireland should be leading on this. I ask whether it might be appropriate to engage with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence, Deputy Coveney, on this as well because he spoke just last week about how disappointing it was and how he felt Ireland had to withdraw because the Naval Service could not have a bilateral arrangement for search and rescue. While I may not agree with him on every detail of that, as I believe Ireland could have taken a stronger position on search and rescue, the core point was that NGOs have been stepping into the breach in an area where the Naval Service, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence, has been constrained.

The facts are that Ireland is not just another EU country trying to find an in-between, half-way around humanitarian obligations, we are meant to be the leaders on humanitarian rights. As a sign of that, Irish ships, during a previous period, rescued 16,800 people in the Mediterranean Sea. My colleague listed the ships and we know their names because we were very proud of them. During the period when there was an average of one Irish ship in the Mediterranean, it rescued 16,800 people. During the same period, when five to ten other EU ships were in the Mediterranean simultaneously, they rescued 34,000 people. Thus one third of all those rescued in the Mediterranean during that period were rescued by our Naval Service. That is record we have on humanitarian assistance. We were the leaders beyond compare in Europe. We gave a humanitarian example and it was something right across Ireland of which people were incredibly proud. Then there was a withdrawal from the bilateral arrangement, and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, believes we did not have the option of another such agreement. We then joined Operation Sophia. The former Minister of State with responsibility for defence, Deputy Kehoe, speaking directly to me in this Chamber said of that operation that we were now moving from a primarily humanitarian function to a primarily security function. Thus we stepped away from humanitarian work in that regard. If we look at the figures, 8,500 lives were rescued in 2015. In 2016 it was 7,000. After we had the change in policy with Operation Sophia, that 7,000 figure plummets to 1,888 in 2018. Then, as we know, we have had the total withdrawal from search and rescue. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, told us, I think earlier this week, that 1,300 others have died in the Mediterranean this year so far, that we know of. That is the reality. We are talking about prosecutions and how we want to tackle different forms of criminal activity but as an island nation, let us place ourselves physically in the world. These are the realities.Ireland gave leadership. We may not be able to give leadership through our Naval Service any more - I really regret that and wish that alternatives and ways where our navy could step in could be found - but organisations, NGOs and individuals have stepped into the breach when there has been a systemic withdrawal from search and rescue and they are being aggressively prosecuted. In March, Italian prosecutors charged dozens of rescuers from Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières who were accused of collaborating with people smugglers when they saved thousands of people from drowning in the Mediterranean. Dozens of investigations have been launched by Italian prosecutors. I spoke on Second Stage of a humanitarian volunteer from County Cork who was arrested for human trafficking while volunteering in Lesbos, Greece. That was someone who clearly had absolutely no financial or material benefit but was stepping into the breach in respect of human rights. It is a thing where people, particularly those who are not wealthy, will be afraid to take these actions if they know they are facing prosecution regardless of whether they are confident that they will have a great defence. As we saw on some of the Greek islands, some of the people who are most pressed themselves and have the least resources have been the most willing to offer humanitarian support or give humanitarian help. Those people should not be in a position where they have to balance the possibility of being imprisoned awaiting trial, facing prosecution, that they might have to find and access legal resources in order to mount a defence. They will have to balance out those risks and the risks that they represent to their family or to others who immediately depend on them versus what they wish to do for the common good and what they wish to do for others who are also part of our shared humanity. We should not be putting people in that situation or relying and hoping that a Director of Public Prosecutions, whoever he or she may be - and there could be ten different people over the course of the years this law applies - will probably not choose to prosecute them. It is the chill effect and that leads to people drowning. I am saying drowning because so much of this relates to ships but we know that it is not only that. We are also looking at land borders. Ireland will have land border components and there are many other areas. I am focusing on that part because it is something I feel passionate about. If it is true that Ireland was forced to stop rescuing and forced to stop humanitarian action, that we were unwilling and did not want that to happen, let us now show leadership by giving active support and recognition and an active exemption to those humanitarian actions for those who are stepping into the breach when we have had to step back.