Professor Paul McMaster:

I thank the Chairman and members for their generosity and allowing me to come before the joint committee. It is difficult to know what to say, although my role in Médecins Sans Frontières during the years has been in devising strategy, management and preparation. I went into the field as a simple surgeon to help the teams working in it. One of the things I have learned is that one loses sight of the big picture when one is stuck in a cave performing surgery for five weeks. Ms McKenna is the person with a broader view of the problem.

I have been in many settings, but I do not think I have been anywhere that has felt so oppressive for the people. We are running clandestine operations in Syria because we have not been able to access all of the areas we wish to. We are dealing with civilians wounded in bombings and by rockets. As members may know, many have fled to the camps in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, in which areas Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, is working hard.

I have seen a devastated population. Civilians in the north west of Syria where three of the surgical field teams are working are living in basements, usually in buildings that have been bombed. There has been no electricity in the area for eight or nine months and winter is coming fast. Before I left a few weeks ago, it was extremely cold at night and I can only imagine that conditions will become very difficult. The only cooking facility in a basement is an open camp fire in the middle of the floor. They burn wood and rooms fill up with smoke. As a consequence, the children are wheezing and access to medication is limited. Médecins Sans Frontières is trying very hard to get medication to the few medics who are still there.

I come from the field as an angry doctor, which is not really what members want to hear. My anxiety is caused by reports from colleagues who have been able to get into the east of the country, to which I did not go, which suggest the needs there are every bit as great as what I experienced. The field teams feel humbled by the inadequacy of what we have been able to do in the country and we are fearful of what the winter will mean for the people and what the future will bring. We are immensely grateful, however, for the interest and support given to Médecins Sans Frontières Ireland in the past.