Naughten suggests emergency talks in dail on migrant crisis

Local TD Denis Naughten has described the migrant crisis in Europe and the Middle East as 'a human tragedy' and said that if the Dail was to resume its sittings earlier than expected it should be to discuss this issue.

He also said that Ireland should take in a larger number of refugees than the 600 which the Government has committed to accepting over the next two years.

'That number is not much more than we've taken in historically each year as programme refugees, so we need to take in larger numbers which are proportional to the numbers being taken in across Europe,' said the Independent TD for Roscommon South Leitrim.

Deputy Naughten yesterday (Wednesday) tweeted the harrowing photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a beach in Turkey and stated: 'If we are to recall the Dail let it be to discuss death of Alyan & migrant crisis - make his loss lead to real action.'

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent today, he said that the image of the boy's death had particular resonance because of his young age.

'I have a two-year-old daughter and I think for anyone who has a toddler to see that little lad lying on the beach - you couldn't help but be affected by it.'

He said he attended a meeting of TDs yesterday to see if there was anything they could do in relation to the crisis.

'A variety of views were expressed at the meeting and some politicians seem quite sensitive towards the issue in light of an upcoming general election,' he commented.

'But the reality is that we're facing into a crisis that's not been seen since World War Two.'

Deputy Naughten welcomed the comments today by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin who said 'parishes would not be found wanting' when it came to providing assistance to refugees and migrants.

But the TD said the only long-term solution to the issue was to ensure there was adequate security and stability in place in the migrants' home countries.

'We need to deal with the refugee crisis which we currently have, but the broader issue is the question of why they are coming to Europe and what we can do to ensure that they don't need to leave their home countries. We can't continue to ignore the issue of ISIS in Syria and other parts of the Middle East.'

Deputy Naughten pointed out that a lot of the countries from which migrants were fleeing were rich in resources but that their much of their populations nevertheless had to survive on incomes of less than a dollar a day.

'The vast majority don't want to leave their home countries,' but were being forced to do so due to instability, he said.

Here is Deputy Naughten's Tweet on the issue: