Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for missing the earlier part of the meeting, as I was in the Dáil for the debate on Northern Ireland. As we know, terrorism knows no borders and it would appear that we need borderless intelligence. Did the issue of greater intelligence sharing among EU member states arise at the 16 November EU Foreign Affairs Council in light of recent terrorist attacks?

The Minister referred to the establishment of a trust fund to address the root causes of migration in Africa. I understand that we are contributing €3 million to that fund. If the Minister does not have them readily available today, perhaps he could send us some details on how that fund will operate.

In his contribution, the Minister also referred to 60 million displaced people on the move. Is that a UN figure and, if so, is it believed to be a reasonably accurate one? Who are the authors of that statistic?

Has the Minister had an opportunity meet recently with the Israeli or Palestinian representatives in Ireland concerning the escalation of violence in Jerusalem?

As regards that and other areas of conflict, is the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continually updating its advice to Irish people living in such regions or people who may be planning to travel there?