Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was listening the contribution of the Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs and would like to be associated with her remarks about the staff in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, particularly those young people who helped out and brought so much energy to the Irish Presidency.

The Snowden affair has dominated the news in the past week. The Taoiseach and the Minister of State spoke about the free trade agreement. It is a bad backdrop to those talks. Does the Tánaiste feel that it will have a negative impact on those discussions? The Minister of State spoke about how positive it was that it has kick-started but, realistically, we are talking about years in respect of that agreement. Does the Tánaiste agree with me? This throws up all sorts of questions about being bugged by a foreign power. Are there now concerns about Irish offices abroad? Will there be new investigations relating to that? People are asking this question.

In respect of Palestine, is the Tánaiste disappointed that nothing substantial was agreed in respect of the settlements? I noted from previous meetings that there was condemnation of them and we spoke previously about labelling. Is the Tánaiste disappointed that we could not come to some sort of agreement?

Croatia was mentioned and is now a member of the EU. What effect, if any, will this have on the wider Balkan region? I am thinking in particular of the difficulties in Bosnia-Herzegovina. What can Europe do to support that applicant country in which there are clear difficulties and what can we do to develop other countries?

Syria has not been mentioned today and it would be remiss if we did not mention it. I presume it was discussed at the meeting. Have there been any developments in connection with it, particularly with respect to those countries that believe that arming some of the rebel groups is the way forward? Have there been any new developments in respect of aid for refugees and those still living in some of the so-called liberated areas and the difficulties facing aid groups? I note that GOAL is operating in that region. That highlights difficulties relating to Syrian sovereignty. The Irish Government is supporting those humanitarian efforts but the UN is going through Syrian government channels. Was that discussed at any level? There is a contradiction there. There are difficulties relating to going through 53 checkpoints to get to people who are in a bad way medically and to provide basic items like food. I would appreciate if the Tánaiste could give us an outline of what was discussed there.

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