Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and I thank him for visiting the region in question. His trip is a reflection not only of Ireland's commitment to the region but also to his personal and ongoing commitment to it over many years. As he was speaking, I recalled that we visited the region together ten years ago and there was hope that some kind of resolution would be reached. A recent World Bank report estimates that the economic cost to Palestine of the restrictions placed on it by Israel is $3.4 billion per year. Is there any way pressure can be exerted in order to try to minimise the impact in this regard? What is happening seems both wasteful and, from Israel's point of view, counter-productive. I accept that the Minister of State visited the area in the context of Irish Aid and that there is probably a reluctance to discuss exerting pressure on Israel while the talks continue. However, talks took place in the past and matters just appeared to become continually worse. This led to further restrictions being put in place. If, as the Minister of State noted, there is to be a two-state solution, then both states must be viable.

I have two other brief questions one of which is on aid. We are making a considerable financial contribution, relatively speaking, to the Syrian refugee problem. Food, water, security and shelter are the main requirements but from the point of view of women in refugee or displaced persons camps, they are extremely vulnerable not only to gender-based violence but in terms of the loss of access to ante-natal care, contraceptives, post-rape kits and so on. As the Minister of State is aware, there is a recognised set of priority interventions to deal with such situations in refugee camps and we are committed to it in our action plan on Resolution 1325 and in our development aid policy but being committed to it on paper and funding the necessary programmes are two different issues. Did the Minister of State hear reports of gender-based violence while he was there and is our spending going to help women in these extremely vulnerable circumstances because that kind of violence is almost inevitable when people are living in such conditions? I am not sure if we are providing funding directly or if we are working entirely through agencies such as our own agencies, Trócaire, Oxfam and Concern. To what extent are we sure that some money is being allocated to ensure women are protected in those circumstances?

On a related topic, a conference is being hosted in London by DFID on gender-based violence and through my contact with DFID I am aware it is anxious that there would be an Irish input. Is the Minister of State or the Tánaiste in a position to attend that conference? It would be important for us to have an input into that if it is possible.