Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister back to the Chamber this afternoon. I compliment him and acknowledge the great energy he has taken to his new role and the progress he has made across a large number of areas. I ask him to continue the good work.

From a Fianna Fáil perspective, we are happy to support the measures outlined here this afternoon by the Minister. It is important, whether it be security or migration, to have an EU approach as they are global issues. We need an EU approach to try to deal with whatever it may be, whether it is security or migration. We only have to look across to our nearest neighbour, the UK, which decided to go it alone, and we can see the issues it has to deal with now. Ultimately, it requires co-operation among all EU states to deal with security, migration or whatever. That is vital.

The funding is also vital. There is a substantial pool of moneys available under the new asylum fund. There is something like €11.9 billion, which is a huge amount of money and a big increase on the €6.2 billion that was there previously. That will go a long way to help co-operation, be that fingerprinting of applications, vetting or whatever. It is important that we have these systems in place. As John Donne, the poet, said once upon a time, "No man is an island", and on this particular issue, I firmly believe we cannot go alone. We will need the co-operation of our neighbours and our EU colleagues to have a proper system in place that can be fair but firm and efficient, which is vital.

The security element of it is something we have to be cognisant of because, unfortunately, there are threats on a daily basis, not just to us but to EU security. Co-operation is vital in that regard because crime does not know any borders. It is a global issue and we need the co-operation of our neighbours to have an adequate system in place to protect ourselves.

I am very happy, on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, to support the proposals before us. I understand we need the assent of both the Seanad and the Dáil to opt in to them. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, I am happy to do that. I wish Deputy O'Callaghan well in his role as Minister.