Mr. Barry Andrews:

Thank you, Vice Chairman. I thank the committee for inviting us to attend this meeting and for its ongoing interest in this area, particularly its focus on the humanitarian and operational aspects. When I appeared before the committee last April, I indicated my expectation that the casualty list in Syria would exceed 100,000 by the end of the year. In fact, that number was reached some weeks ago, which underlines the urgency of the problems confronting the people of that country.

I made a presentation at the Daniel O'Connell summer school last month, where I made the point that when O'Connell died in 1847, he died with a broken heart because he could not persuade the British people that the Irish Famine was a humanitarian rather than a political issue. The prevailing view in the British political classes at the time was that the Irish were a violent, reckless and undeserving people. O'Connell was unable to persuade them that the humanitarian consideration should be more important than the political prejudices that existed. Returning to the present day, leaders of non-governmental organisations and political leaders and influencers in this country - which has an outstanding reputation in the area of humanitarian aid - have a serious duty to persuade people of the extent of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria, which was perfectly illustrated by my colleagues from Médecins Sans Frontières Ireland and Concern.

My colleague, Mr. Jonathan Edgar, has just returned from Syria where he undertook a full assessment of our operations. He will outline some of his findings to the committee.