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

It is not my telephone. Will the Minister of State explain its impact on Lebanese society. We know the Lebanese economy is in difficulty. I am informed that trading with Syria has almost stopped, the deficit is getting bigger and there are huge difficulties within the country. While the Minister of State was in the area, a report released by Oxfam, Shifting Sands, mentioned the changing gender roles among refugees in the Lebanon and the difficulty that is causing. One of the issues raised in the report in respect of aid was that traditionally the funding or cheque went through the male. The difficulty is that among many of the refugees there is not a male. Can the recommendations of the report be examined? It deals with issues such as promoting gender equality, limiting women's participation in social, economic and political life and the difficulties in that area. Perhaps we could look at the accountability of the programme to ensure it is open to everyone, that women will be included and that there will be an outreach to those women who are currently not getting aid.

Another issue that strikes me in regard to the aid programme in Lebanon is that no aid goes to poor Lebanese families, despite the fact that the economy is in crisis. There is instability in the country arising from a number of civil wars and there are difficulties arising. Given that it has one million refugees I do not know how the country is holding itself together. It has no camps and is not opening camps, although there are camps for Palestinians. People are having to live in garages and anywhere there is space, all of which is impacting on society. We know that if there is a huge influx of people, the price of food and accommodation increases. That in itself creates tension within society as well as religious difficulties. Is the Minister of State worried about the outbreak of even more violence by some of those groups who, clearly, are active within the Syrian conflict?

Was there a discussion on the potential of the situation in the Al Aqsa Mosque in Palestine flaring up to another Intifada? I welcome the statement on the discussion of the core issues. The big worry is that these talks are going through the motions whereas at the same time the settlement problem is going ahead . I would like to know what Ireland will do about that problem or has that question been asked.already?