Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegates. The purpose of the meeting is to meet representatives of Concern to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria. Obviously, the position is changing day by day and it will be useful to have a discussion with Concern which I understand has been working inside Syria since May 2013. I note that it is almost a year to the day since members started to discuss the situation in Syria with representatives of Concern. At the time, the position in the country had deteriorated, given the growth of extremism and the threat posed by ISIS and other groups. Although the United Nations has passed resolutions, recent reports on their implementation set out clearly that the fundamental obstacles to the provision of humanitarian assistance remain in place across Syria and that the parties to the conflict remain in breach of international law. As members will have seen on their televisions screens nightly, the situation in Kobani is particularly worrying. Kobani is a city situated just 3 km inside the Syrian-Turkish border and already we have seen ISIS taking over public buildings there. Obviously, the major worry in this regard is that there could be another massacre, accompanied by offences such as rape and so on within the region. I note that 200,000 Syrian Kurds have moved across the border with Turkey and that the situation at the border is extremely difficult.

It is particularly difficult for the Turkish authorities, given the history of the region. Humanitarian relief is a critical component of the international response, with the mass displacement of citizens. We saw this for ourselves last year when we visited Jordan and the refugee camps on the Syrian border. The treatment of citizens by ISIS and other terrorist groups in the region is deplorable.
Ireland has made a very significant contribution to the ongoing work to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, having already committed more than €29 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the crisis. The committee is looking forward to hearing from Concern today about its efforts to alleviate the suffering of the people of Syria. We met some Syrian refugees when we were in Jordan and spoke to them through translators. The stories we heard were harrowing and we have heard many more such stories since through the media, including about how ISIS is treating people.
Before we begin, I ask members, witnesses and those in the Visitors Gallery to turn off their mobile phones for the duration of the meeting as they cause interference with the recording equipment, even when left in silent mode. This is particularly important because the meeting is being broadcast live on the Oireachtas television channel.
I remind Members of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or an entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.
I welcome the representatives of Concern, Ms Anne O'Mahony, director of international programmes; Ms Brid Kennedy, regional director for Asia and the Middle East, and Mr. Peter Doyle. We will first hear the opening presentation and then have a question and answer session.