Mr. Jim Clarken:

We cannot afford to despair. It is up to us not to despair. What has been and is happening in the DRC is horrific and there is a huge onus on us to re-energise ourselves to ensure there is a focus on that. The Deputy is right when he says the figures are staggering. A total of 5.4 million people are involved. It is the biggest conflict in the world since the Second World War and it is not reported in any newspaper or any news programme with the exception of great pieces of work being done on it elsewhere. It should be an issue we are dealing with and speaking about all the time.

To update the committee on the current position, as of this morning the town of Sake has also fallen. This particular militant group is now moving further and it is a real concern. Approximately 120,000 additional people are displaced. To be technical about it, they are being pushed out of internally displaced camps; they are internally displaced within the Congo. They now have nowhere to go. They are moving across the border into Rwanda and other places. This is a crisis that is getting worse but it has been at that shocking level for many years. Occasionally, it raises its head and then dips again and collectively internationally we forget about it. That is not acceptable.

We must put pressure on here at home for it to be raised. To be fair, the Government, Irish Aid and others have been very supportive, and members of this committee are very interested in the issue. Holding the EU Presidency and within the Council we will have an amazing opportunity to do more and to raise it in a number of other fora but we must put extreme pressure now on the parties to the conflict to ensure there is humanitarian access. We must be able to save lives today and tomorrow. We were speaking with staff on the ground this morning who are in a precarious position. They are anxious to stay and to continue to work but unless external pressure is put on all the parties to the conflict they will not have that access and those people will be in a very difficult position.