Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Given that he spent only four days in the region, the Minister of State has done a masterful job in obtaining such a complete picture of the situation which obtains there. He has been dealing with two of the most complicated issues of the 21st century, namely, Syria and the displacement of its people and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, particularly as it relates to Israel and Palestine. Many of those present are former city or county councillors and it is impossible for us to imagine how the affected countries in the Middle East - particularly Lebanon, which is emerging from a period of crisis and civil war involving armed troops, Hezbollah, etc. - can continue to try to absorb the number of Syrian refugees crossing their borders. Of course many of the latter are Palestinians who were given refuge in Syria and who are now refugees in Lebanon. Those who served as councillors will be well aware of the difficulties of sophisticated First World cities in the context of water supplies, sewage, infrastructure, roads, health and waste. I recall visiting Gaza and witnessing the horrendous situation with regard to waste there.

We should applaud the work being done by the governments of Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. The latter, which is a very tolerant Arab state, has been obliged to deal with a huge influx of Palestinians over the years. I am not sure of the position in north Africa. It is unbelievable that 7 million people have been displaced and that 2 million to 3 million of them are living in temporary accommodation, garages and deserted buildings. In addition, the members of the indigenous populations are being obliged to try to compete with these people and to hold down their own jobs in the face of cheap labour. The situation must be horrendous.

I thank the Minister of State and the Government for allocating €14 million in humanitarian aid. I accept that his visit took place in the context of development aid and that he did not engage with the Israelis, which is understandable. We experienced something of a shock when some of our other development aid moneys were mislaid, transferred or stolen in Uganda. On each occasion the Tánaiste, the Minister of State or some other Minister travels abroad, we hear about another €1 million or €2 million being released. Some disturbing information has been emanating from Gaza in recent times. The EU has discovered that a great deal of money has gone astray. We are acting in a spontaneous and emotional manner in respect of what is an emergency situation. Is the Minister of State satisfied that our aid is being administered properly?

It is difficult to know where to begin when it comes to the Middle East. For example, in the context of Gaza we have the tunnels and misplaced European Union moneys. When it comes to peace process in Palestine, one is obliged to deal with issues relating to the West Bank, Gaza, Fatah, Hamas and Sharia law. In addition, there have been terrible human rights abuses taking place in Gaza. Are the Palestinians sufficiently united to ensure that the peace talks will achieve a successful outcome?

A number of representatives from the aid agencies came before the committee last week and we discussed the issue of Syria in depth. We understand that 50% of the Palestinians who were in Syria have been displaced and are now in camps in other countries. Is there any particular reason for this? The Palestinians were deemed not to be parties to the conflict and it was perceived that they had remained outside it. Why have the 50% of Palestinians in Syria to whom I refer now become refugees for the second or third time in their lives?

On development aid, in the past we dealt with people from war zones in Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Has the Department ever considered operating in a different way in the context of development aid and refugees? I refer in particular to women and children in this regard. Would problems arise because refugees from the Middle East would be Muslims and we live in a Christian society? Is providing this degree of aid open to consideration? We have done it very successfully in the past and I see no reason why we might not consider doing it again.

Ireland is a tiny country and can provide as much aid as it so desires. If, however, the Americans, those in Geneva and the Syrians do not come together in a serious fashion in order to bring peace to Syria, the displacement of people is going to continue.