Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I extend my sympathy to the families of the university students who died. Following the tragic death of a young Irish woman recently, who was at university abroad, we know the effects of her death on her family and on our population. Were the 147 all Kenyan or did they come from other countries also? I chair the Irish section of AWEPA, so we have had a lot of engagement with parliamentarians from Africa. We had a conference some months ago which was about internal migration within Africa and I do not think there is enough emphasis on the extent of internal migration which is affecting every African country. We see what is happening in South Africa at the moment and the tensions there with migrant groups. Looking at Kenya, it comes down to how to engage with the migrant groups coming into Kenya so that they feel part of society and they are not alienated.

I have a question on young people - we know there are massive issues around youth unemployment in Europe, but particularly in Africa - and how those disaffected youth can be engaged in positive ways through education, training and employment, because they are the target for radicalism. How active a role are religious leaders playing with these youth so that they engage in positive activities rather than negative ones? What effect will closing the Dadaab refugee camp have on people who are there?

The last question is on the funding of al-Shabaab. It is getting money because it could not run those operations without significant funding. Is the ambassador confident that some of the measures he has outlined will close off channels of funding to these groups?

There are concerns that this tragedy could have been prevented if security forces had moved more quickly, and we have had similar situations in this country where tragedies might have been prevented. While it will not bring back the 147 people who lost their lives, there are lessons for the future.