2313. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the reasons Ireland did not join the group of EU Member States that signed a joint letter seeking an emergency meeting on migration pressures relating to Spain's North African territories; the way in which the Government's support for a separate Presidency-led video conference differed in objective, strategy or intended outcome from the proposal contained in the letter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60633/26]

The letter referred to by the Deputy, sent on Saturday 1 August, was addressed to Ireland in our capacity as Presidency of the Council of the European Union, as well as to António Costa, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission.

Ireland, as Presidency of the Council of the European Union, responded by convening an extraordinary meeting of Ministers of the Interior on 4 August, which I chaired.

I can assure the Deputy that Ireland, as Presidency, has acted decisively and quickly in response to the situation in Ceuta, and we continue to do so.

In addition to responding to the request to convene an extraordinary meeting of Interior Ministers to discuss the situation, we have hosted a number of senior official, and ambassador level meetings. We continue to engage with Spain and the European Commission to ensure that Spain is supported as it manages this challenging situation.

Alongside this, we are working to advance a number of pieces of work identified by Ministers on 4 August as priority actions which will better equip the Union to prevent and manage any similar future incidents.