Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome back the Minister of State. I will be brief on these amendments. We covered them a lot on the previous Stage of the Bill. They go back to the recommendation IHREC made.We spoke a great deal in the last session about the journey of a smuggled person and people obviously do not take that journey very lightly. The Journalreported a number of weeks ago that on 18 July people were pulled from the Mediterranean Sea and that there were 57 other migrants on the same boat when it had left its port. These amendments would seek to protect those humanitarians and aid workers who help to save those lives that we keep reading about and seeing the reported figures on.

Previously, this work was carried out by the European defence forces under Operation Sophia, with the assistance of some of our own ships given to those stranded at sea. Now that work is being left to NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, which we need to protect in this legislation. Under the current legislation, this work is in danger of ceasing because the NGOs are threatened with prosecution. I am therefore appealing to the Minister of State to accept these amendments to stop further loss of life and to be able to facilitate humanitarians in their very important work.