Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Ging's opening submission details the scale of the challenge, and the numbers are absolutely staggering. He talked about the danger to staff, people being killed and so on, and that is the environment under which people work. It is also true to say that more and more people around the world are coming out of poverty. It is a very slow process, but if one considers the number of conflicts in the world ten or 20 years ago, it is a safer world, even with all the current conflicts. It is important we give that hope to people as well, that the work carried out by NGOs and organisations such as OCHA is successful and does deliver for people on the ground.

Mr. Ging mentioned that Ireland is taking on the chairmanship of OCHA's donor support group. What difference does he think this will make? He mentioned the number of donations pledged but not delivered. I suppose most of us and the people listening at home to these proceedings will not be able to get their head around this. Why would a country bother making such a pledge at a conference and then not deliver? What is Mr. Ging's assessment of the system of pledging? How might an improvement to it be achieved? Is it the case that countries make pledges and are discouraged afterwards from following through on them or told it was a mistake to make the pledge and that they should not get involved in certain countries? Is this part of the difficulty? If the targets are not met, instead of getting two meals a day do people literally only get one? In the work OCHA carries out on the ground, is it involved in education or medicine?

Regarding refugees, the readmission agreements with the EU have been raised in the committee. I am thinking particularly about the agreement with Turkey, designated as a safe country of origin. We met an MP from the Halklarn Demokratik Partisi yesterday who talked about the awful things happening in Turkey: 130,000 people arrested, 47,000 in jail, the near genocide that has gone on against people, people being burnt alive in buildings, members of the political opposition being arrested, newspapers being closed down and so on, yet this is seen as a safe country of origin. It would not sound like one to most people hearing this catalogue. I am a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which has agreed to monitor Turkey on the basis of some of the things that have happened there such as the recent referendum. Does Mr. Ging agree with my comments? Is he allowed to comment on such matters?

I am not picking on that country; there are others as well.

Mr. Ging mentioned North Korea. How does UNOCHA operate in that Orwellian society? He mentioned stunting. I am sure the regime would not be too pleased that such a high percentage of children are starving to death and suffering from malnutrition.

There are areas generally that are not safe, and an increasing number of countries are moving against NGOs. Does that impact on Mr. Ging's organisation? NGO representatives who have appeared before the committee say they are being labelled as working with terrorists when they work in a particular area the regime is not happy with.

Reference was made to the Horn of Africa and the figures are staggering. Ireland has a long-standing relationship with countries in this region and Mr. Ging mentioned the positive work we do. Are we punching above our weight in those countries? What could be done differently? There is criticism of funding and it is believed there is better monitoring if funding is channelled through Irish Aid or if Irish Aid is involved in projects. I recognise the pluses of pooling resources and delivering projects more cheaply and so on but, as part of that, less attention is paid to some projects. If I am asked whether I can stand over Irish Aid projects, I can say I have visited a number. I have visited countries where the system is not working and it is leaking. How can that be addressed?

Mr. Ging talked about man-made crises. I am conscious of what is happening in Palestine. There were reports earlier of an Israeli settler opening fire on a peaceful protest and people being killed. What is happening in Gaza? This is a man-made humanitarian crisis and conflicts keep breaking out in the area. The UN reports say the area will be unliveable in by 2020 as a result of Israeli of military operations, an almost decade-long blockade and economic and infrastructural issues. How important is it that organisations such as the UNOCHA, politicians, and other NGOs go into conflict zones such as Gaza, Syria and Iraq? How important is it that politicians who are comfortable in Dublin or Europe obtain second-hand information as through meetings such as this rather and visit those areas?

Reference was also made to Yemen, cluster bombs and the number of meeting facing starvation as a result of another man-made conflict. There is, however, clearly a link between countries that supply weaponry and so on countries such as Yemen and the refugee crisis. What can be done differently? The cluster munitions agreement was adopted in Dublin and signed by 120 countries. It bans the use of cluster bombs yet countries are supplying them. There is something missing in the middle. Has the UNOCHA recommendations in this regard? Does Mr. Ging agree that Ireland and the international community must challenge the Saudi regime about using these bombs? How can they be challenged? Does he agree that weapon sales to these countries should be suspended? That would be a solution but will it happen? There are borders going up in Europe and the arms trade involving many European countries is contributing to these conflicts. Many of the people fleeing these conflicts are travelling to these European countries seeking support and safe haven. That is the eternal cycle.

My questions are negative. Has Ireland still an important role in securing the cessation of these conflicts? How important is its role in not only sending aid but also in trying to assist in the transition from conflict to peace? Perhaps we should redouble our efforts in this regard.