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

I thank the Minister for his detailed presentation, which reflects the huge number of serious issues on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council. The continuing senseless loss of life, relentless bombing and inhumane attacks on civilians in Syria demand that the international community, through the UN and other international bodies, bring the horrific five-year war in that country to an end. We have all received correspondence from citizens on this island who are concerned that humanitarian assistance is not reaching areas like eastern Aleppo. The Government must continue to speak out in the strongest possible terms in reflection of the strong concerns of the Irish people about the inhumane attacks on civilians in Syria. The bombardment of civilian populations has to be stopped. An end must be brought to the humanitarian crisis. The Minister concluded the section of his speech on Syria by saying that the conclusions adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council are "critical to save the lives of the Syrian people, particularly those who remain in the city of Aleppo". Sadly, that sentence reflects the fact that we are witnessing the wipe-out of a city and its people.

I ask members to try to confine what they have to say to the asking of questions, if at all possible. If their contributions are relatively brief, it might be possible to for them to have a second round as well so that we can have a full engagement with the Minister.