Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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104. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the single largest tragic incident in 2018 in the Mediterranean which saw 112 Tunisian migrants die crossing to Greece on an overloaded smuggler's boat on 5 June 2018; the way in which he will contribute to talks regarding EU migration reform from the viewpoint of the safety and well-being of migrants and refugees coming into the EU; if he will represent the needs of migrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25941/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The death of 112 migrants from Tunisia, who drowned when the overloaded smuggler’s boat carrying them across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece capsized, is a tragedy. While the number of deaths at sea in the Mediterranean has dropped significantly over the past twelve months, any death at sea, particularly in such circumstances, is tragic.

Ireland supports efforts made by the European Union and its Member States to put a stop to unnecessary deaths in the Mediterranean.

Ireland has been active in search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean since 2015, first through Operation Pontus, a bilateral agreement between Ireland and Italy running in parallel to Operation Sophia. Ireland has been a full member of Operation Sophia since 2017. Since 2015, Irish naval vessels have rescued thousands of migrants at sea.

In addition to supporting the rescue of migrants at sea, Ireland supports other measures to address the root causes of irregular migration, such as through the EU efforts to stabilise Libya and neighbouring countries in North and West Africa, both politically and economically. The recently established AU-EU-UN Taskforce on Libya has seen some early successes in its efforts to support migrants in Libya.

Ireland continues to make its own efforts, as well as supporting those of the EU, to improve the socio-economic conditions in countries of origin and transit. In this spirit, Ireland continues to support the EU Trust Fund for Africa and our pledge doubled to six million euro in 2017. The use of awareness-raising campaigns in third countries of origin and transit has been highlighted as an area of particular importance in recent EU discourse, and I understand it will be a priority of the upcoming Austrian EU Presidency. These campaigns seek to warn third country nationals, thinking of travelling to Europe through smuggling channels, of the risks of the crossing.

Ireland supports the opening up of new legal migratory pathways to Europe for third country nationals, as part of efforts to reduce irregular migration and to reduce the numbers of migrants making dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea. Ireland expects to be an active participant in current and future pledges in respect of refugees and other vulnerable persons in need of protection. In this regard, we have pledged to resettle 600 refugees each year in 2018 and 2019 under the EU-UNHCR pledging exercise for the two-year period.