Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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343. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the death in the Mediterranean of migrants from Africa travelling to Europe by boat; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16223/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I share the horror at the recent tragedies in the Mediterranean, and the level of humanitarian crisis across the Middle East and parts of Africa. Instability and conflict across the Horn of Africa, North Africa and the Middle East have led to unprecedented numbers of people being displaced from their homes in the last five years. Almost 1600 migrants are known to have drowned in the Mediterranean this year while seeking refuge in Europe, thirty times as many as in the same period in 2014.

On 20 April, together with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald TD, I attended an extraordinary joint meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers and EU Home Affairs Ministers called in response to these recent tragic events. At this joint meeting, a 10-point plan of the immediate actions to be taken in response to the crisis situation in the Mediterranean received the full backing of Ministers.

On 23 April, the Taoiseach attended a Special Meeting of the European Council on the Mediterranean Crisis, at which EU leaders agreed to triple funding for the EU's Triton search and rescue operation.

In view of the migration crisis in the Mediterranean, and the ongoing violence and chaos in Libya, the Taoiseach announced additional Irish Aid funding of €1 million to the for its work in Libya. This funding is being provided in the context of Ireland’s support to the broader region - including countries affected by the Syria crisis - which will total €41 million by the end of this year. Through the aid programme, we also provide significant humanitarian funding to other countries affected by conflict and displacement in the Horn of Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, including Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan.

The root causes of much illegal migration lie in poverty, underdevelopment and conflict. Long term development programmes are critical, in addition to emergency humanitarian assistance. Ireland’s development focus is on Africa, where we direct over 80% of our aid. As a country with a long experience of emigration, Ireland has the potential to share the lessons we have learned from this experience with our partners in Africa.

Ireland strongly shares the concern of our EU and Southern partners and we agree that solutions must be found jointly to address a humanitarian crisis on this scale. We need to address the human safety and organised crime aspects of this crisis. However, more than anything, people need to be safe in their home countries, and this requires our continued focus internationally on the need for sustainable political solutions to conflicts.