Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for their questions. In response to Deputy Brenda Smith's question on the donor pledging conference, we held one already and another will take place in January 2014. Deputy Smith also tabled a parliamentary question in the Dáil on this matter. Ireland fully honours all its pledges. There is never a question about it. We are renowned for it. It is not necessarily the same with some other countries. Some countries make pledges but do not honour them in full or at all. That gives rise to concern. We know that some of the pledges that were made in the previous conference have not been honoured at this point.

The host country made an original pledge of €300 million, a significant figure that mobilised a large number of funds, but normally roughly 70% of pledges are honoured. If all of the pledges were honoured it would make things a lot easier. We emphasise at all times the need to honour pledges in full.

The United Nations states the situation in Syria is the worst international conflict since the fall of the Iron Curtain. A third of the population is displaced within the country or are refugees outside the country. Deputy Crowe put the figures at roughly 2. 5 million people but when we were in Lebanon, we were told that at least 3 million people are crossing the border every day into one country alone. It was a trickle the last time I was in Jordan in August 2012, and there were 16,000 people in Zaatari camp, whereas there are now over 160,000 people in that camp.

Lebanon takes a different approach and has an open border, instead of having camps as Turkey and Jordan. People flow through Lebanon to a different degree. The only real camp in Lebanon is the Burj el-Barajneh camp, which is for the Palestinians. There are about 0.5 million Palestinian people in the Damascus area, half of whom are now displaced . They are beginning to head across the border into Lebanon, where there is already a very large number of Palestinians from previous conflicts and is creating problems. This is also happening in Jordan, which has about 2 million Palestinians from the 1948 and 1967 wars.

It is a major humanitarian crisis. The pressure this crisis is putting on Lebanon is not just a humanitarian issue of having to feed the refugees and provide camps, food, shelter and blankets for them, but also a question of the impact on the existing infrastructure. The problems associated with the influx of large numbers of refugees seeking accommodation and jobs places an enormous burden on an infrastructure that is fragile at the best of times in Lebanon and Jordan.

The message from the Minister for Social Affairs we met was loud and clear that the international community must not only recognise that there is a humanitarian crisis in Syria but that there is an infrastructural crisis and a service crisis in the neighbouring countries - the host countries - which are accepting the refugees. That is a massive problem because it has given rise to resentment and could lead to the situation where the borders would have to be closed to ensure violence does not break out in the host countries. They were anxious that we would convey to the European Union, Ireland and the international community the importance of providing both humanitarian aid and supports and resources to the host countries in order that the burden would not be too onerous on them, because currently it is extraordinarily onerous on them.

With regard to Trócaire, Irish agencies have begun to get involved. It has been difficult to do so because of the limited access. We work through the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and the United Nations. They are the main organisations we work through. Our NGOs, Trócaire, Oxfam and Concern, have permission from the Turkish authorities to cross the border and provide assistance as well. Those are new developments and we are in the process of funding them in respect of the work they are doing.

I have seen the World Bank report and its findings were strongly articulated to all the political figures we met, from the Prime Minister through to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The perception stated by the World Bank is the control of area C, not even the entire occupied territories but area C which is an area that is controlled by the Israelis, in itself, because it borders Jordan and takes in the Dead Sea, would be able to provide €3.4 billion per annum which would be of enormous benefit to the lives of the Palestinians. This is something the Palestinian Authority and the public representatives told us because we had not seen it at that time. It was coming out as we were arriving. They told of how important it would be that they would have control of their own destinies in that respect because they could engage in activities to utilise water and energy resources. Also, the Dead Sea is the source of a great number of products that are sold on the international market, and all of these activities could assist in building up the economy of the occupied territories. That is something on which the international community must focus now that all of this has been articulated.

Regarding the banning of settlement products, we are actively involved with the European Union on that issue to try to get agreement on it, to get the products labelled in order that the international community can know from where they come and that they are not simply described as Israeli products. These are the products that are made in the settlements, often on land that belongs to the Palestinians and often Palestinian workers have produced them. That is an issue we believe must be dealt with at EU level and we have been pushing that issue over a period. We got agreement on the guidelines in terms of the research and development which we were told by everybody we met was enormously beneficial in ensuring pressure was maintained on Israel to be serious about them in the negotiations. This was major leverage which was effective.

I understand Irish companies have been discouraged from investment in any of the settlements and that the European Union has done some work on giving advice to businesses on this issue. Ireland is actively contributing to these discussions and encouraging steps in this direction.

On the issue of the Gaza blockade, it is a fundamental issue that Gaza is cut off from the rest of the Palestinian territories. The blockage, if anything, has got tighter because the tunnels into Egypt have been 80% to 85% closed. Therefore, necessary materials such as fuel, in particular, building and other materials have ceased to come in. It has tightened up everything and reduced levels of employment in the area. Nutrition and food provision are major issues. Some 800,000 out of the 1.2 million people in the area are being fed by UNRWA, which is an incredible humanitarian issue in its own right. We saw all of that. The situation in Gaza is not improving. There has been a very slight easing of some of the border restrictions into Israel but the pressures are enormous there.

On the question of funding, by and large many of the people coming through from Syria would have women as heads of the household, as a lot of men have been killed. We met a family of six, five children and a woman. The father, a veterinary surgeon, went out, never came back and was presumed killed months after. A boy in the family was 13 years of age and the fear was that he would be press-ganged into armed forces, on one side or the other. Therefore the family headed for the border as quickly as they could because some of the forces were approaching their area. That is a typical situation. Many households have suffered to a great degree from the head of household becoming a casualty. There are safety net programmes in place and these are given through the female, as they are given through the male. Therefore, gender equality is exercised under the UNRWA approach in that respect.

On the question of aid for poor Lebanese families, that is more or less the same problem as the one I mentioned. The number of poor Lebanese families is a serious issue. There is a humanitarian crisis in terms of the refugees who go to Lebanon or the displaced persons there, and sufficient cognisance has not been given to the poor Lebanese families and the poor Jordanian families who, in many ways, bear a very heavy burden at times. They may lose their jobs because they have been undercut by people who have come into their country and because services have been greatly reduced. That issue must be built into the equation for the future.

The talks which have been ongoing for three months are a major issue, and I might finish on this point. We met Dr. Erekat, the chief negotiator on the Palestinian side, and discussed the talks with him. We also met the Prime Minister and the foreign Minister and discussed the talks with them. I am not sure if we discussed the talks with the Minister with responsibility for prisoners but we probably mentioned them in passing. We had very thorough discussions in so far as we could because the principle underlining the talks is that they should be done in confidence and, therefore, reports should not be going out to the media or the outside world as to where progress has been made, or otherwise, in order that there would be a real opportunity to engage and that progress could be made. General information was given in the sense that both sides had agreed on the two state solution. That was not a point on which they were engaged in discussion. That was dealt with, done and agreed - done and dusted, so to speak - and they had moved on to discussing the core issues.

They also made it very clear that the United States has a major role to play. They are convinced that the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, is fully committed to the peace talks and they are satisfied that this was also the case with President Obama. They are also looking to the European Union to either engage with or support them. Without going into detail, they are, therefore, looking to both the US and the European Union. The talks will transfer to Washington shortly and it is expected that the level of negotiation will intensify at that stage. A nine-month timeframe applies in respect of the deliberations.

I and those in the group which accompanied me got the impression that the Palestinians are committed to these discussions and that they are of the view that this is probably the last realistic opportunity to arrive at a two-state solution. As members are aware, settlements continue to be developed apace and there is an ongoing process of demolition. All of this is occurring on the Israeli side. The Palestinians are not fully convinced that there is the same level of commitment to engagement by those on the Israeli side. However, they are hopeful that the position will change. They also hope that external personnel from the EU and the United State will play a role in ensuring that the level of engagement on all sides will be intensified.

That is how matters stand at present. The process has reached an extremely important point and all sides hope that a solution might be forthcoming on this occasion. Everyone is certainly of the view that this is the time to go for it and to obtain a result.