Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Dan Neville has identified the key dimension of the refugee crisis, namely, the tension there can be between refugees and the host community. It is a worrying dimension, reflecting the pressure on the countries with large refugee populations. Inevitably, there are tensions and pressures. This will have to be managed and worked on very carefully.

On the wider issues raised by Deputy Bernard J. Durkan, I share the disappointment and frustration at the fact that the UN Security Council has not been able to deal quickly and effectively with what has been a growing crisis in the past two years. The response has been very strong on the humanitarian side, with agencies working very well, and we work very well with them. However, that is not an argument for ignoring or bypassing the UN Security Council.

We must consider this issue on a number of levels. First to be considered is the issue of accountability for the atrocities that have been committed. There has to be accountability and I have been saying for some time that it should be secured through the International Criminal Court. That is why we have been arguing that the UN Security Council should refer the issue to that court. People who have been responsible for atrocities committed in Syria, at whatever level, must understand the day of reckoning and account will come some day through the International Criminal Court.

The next issue concerns determining the approach in circumstances in which the UN Security Council cannot agree and the veto is being used, as it has been sequentially. If one goes back over all of the various attempts made to get the UN Security Council to respond, one will conclude that everybody must understand the world is different than in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War when the United Nations was established. The interconnectedness and interdependence of states are different. The communications are different. It is increasingly becoming unsustainable for any country, irrespective of its levers of power, to adopt a position at the United Nations that it can say "No" repeatedly. There are economic, communications-related and other influences that can be brought to bear on a country other than military strength and sheer might. It is a different world. To some extent, it is the understanding that we live in a different world that has brought about circumstances in which the immediate issue of chemical weapons and their use has been subject to an agreement. I very much welcome the agreement, but we must see it implemented.

The immediate priority is to halt the violence and the war immediately for humanitarian purposes and to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid. It is a question of getting the Geneva II process going and securing a political solution to the problem. The world must continue determinedly and doggedly to try to bring this about. That is the overwhelming will of people in this country and pretty much every country where the national will has been measured in some way or another. People want to see the conflict brought to an end soon and a political settlement. They want work to continue on dealing with the humanitarian consequences. Ultimately, they want those in refugee camps or who are displaced from their homes to be able to return home to rebuild their lives and country.