Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be as brief as possible. I congratulate the Minister on the role he played in the peace reconciliation negotiations in Northern Ireland. I also compliment all the participating parties on the work they did. We should note the importance of that particular agreement at a crucial time. There was very little public acclaim for it but it is equally as important as any other agreement that was reached. It is second only to the Good Friday Agreement or the St. Andrew’s Agreement. My congratulations also extend to all the officials involved.

Arising from the issues in Paris and Brussels in recent weeks, I wish to ask the Minister whether there is a consciousness within the European Union as to the seriousness of the situation that is now confronting the globe - not only the European Union but the globe - and the threat to peace. To what extent is the European Union going to address those issues and the inevitable and inexorable direction in which they are now headed? Is there a consciousness within the European Union as to the potential for a major international conflict and conflagration the like of which we have not seen in the past 100 years? I am serious about this hugely important issue, on which all of the bodies involved must focus and which is slowly but surely moving in a particular direction that will give rise to disastrous consequences.

I wish to ask also about the vacuum created by the ongoing situation in the Middle East, where nobody wants to accept responsibility, nobody wants to move forward, nobody wants to concede anything and everyone wants to live in the past, focus on the historical grievances and continue to blame each other. This is having inevitable consequences. To what extent is the European Union conscious of the impact that particular vacuum is having and of what is likely to occur? Is the European Union conscious of the need to get the UN involved in situations such as that which obtains in Libya? The latter would be ideal in the context of UN involvement. The international community needs to become involved in Libya. It is now a war zone in respect of which no progress is being made as a result of intervention by various well-meaning people who were wrong and who have now walked away. Nobody accepts responsibility and everybody has gone off on a tangent. Those to whom I refer think it is good to move their attention elsewhere. What I say is not directed at the Minister, rather it is directed at the international community. I wonder whether the latter is aware of where the entire Europe-Middle East situation is heading. This is not going to be a simple thing that will blow away overnight. I wish to know whether action is being taken.

What is the European Union expected to do in Ethiopia and is it going to invoke the UN again with regard to the serious starvation crisis that is likely to emerge there not in the next two or three years but in the next six months? What provisions are likely to be put in place? Again, this is not a criticism of anybody, this is a plea for the recognition of something that is going to unfold with disastrous consequences.

My final comment relates to what has happened in Iraq, ISIS and all that is associated with it. Whether we wish to believe it or not, the situation there is a result of populism and a withdrawal by the international coalition from a war zone, leaving the place open to those who had a particular agenda. That is going to continue for as long as the international community fails to accept its ongoing responsibilities. Could the Minister give us some indication of what is going on? Again, the question is not directed at him personally. It is directed at the international community and those who have direct responsibility, namely the EU and the UN in particular. Could the Minister give some indication to us as to whether there is likely to be any action to confront the direction in which some areas are now heading?