Ms Merkel was last night in Austria attending a conference of European leaders on migration. It was in Austria where the grim discovery of up to 50 dead migrants on a truck was made earlier in the day.

According to Channel 4 News, Ms Merkel said EU countries should distribute the refugees among them according to the countries’ wealth and she singled out Ireland, Denmark and Britain for not participating in such a programme. The three countries have an opt-out from a quota scheme for housing migrants.

While being praised internationally for the rescue efforts of the naval service, the Irish Government has been urged by aid agencies to increase its intake of Syrian and Eritrean migrants, which is set at 600 people over the next two years.