Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank both delegates for their really compelling presentation. I apologise because I was a late to it. As others have stated, hearing about the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe made for grim listening. The delegates have given us a really clear picture of it. The focus on the gender aspect and the devastating impact on women and children, in particular, really brings it home.

Like others, I was struck by the comment that the only real solution is a political one. I agree with what Deputy Barrett stated, namely, that the requests made by our guests are very reasonable. As a committee, we absolutely should write to the Tánaiste to request an update and seek to use Ireland's influence. There was a specific request that the Tánaiste should direct his Department to use the embassy in Saudi Arabia to convene a meeting with Saudi counterparts. We should include that in our letter also. We do have an update from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We have been told the Tánaiste met the Saudi ambassador in October 2018 and February 2019, which was quite recently, to stress Ireland's concerns over humanitarian access. We have not been told whether our embassy in Saudi Arabia has made representations there. Perhaps we should emphasise that.

Clearly, there has been considerable focus on Saudi Arabia as a key player and on arms sales to that country. As a small country, can Ireland do more to press our its EU partners to discontinue arms sales to Saudi Arabia in particular but also to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Iran, each of which is also a player in the conflict. Can we do more on that front? There has been a lot of focus on British arms sales but other EU countries are also involved.

What more can we do about the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Iran? We have been told the Department has conveyed to the Iranian embassy here Ireland's strong concerns over the safety of civilians and compliance with international humanitarian law but we have not been told whether any representations have been made by Ireland to the United Arab Emirates or Egypt. Have the delegates any comment on that?