Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chairman and welcome the EU Special Representative on Human Rights and his colleague and also Mr. Colin Wrafter. I thank him for an interesting and stimulating contribution. His background in politics in his country and internationally has shaped him well for this important post and he has been active in the few months in which he has been in that position.

To follow on from the Chairman's question on Syria, Mr. Lambrinidis spoke about the work of NGOs not being given the assistance, co-operation or partnership of governments. We understand from correspondence that in regard to some of the NGOs working in Syria the aid they are providing is routed to the government controlled areas and not to the opposition controlled areas so that the people in those areas are not getting anything like the assistance they need. The Chairman rightly pointed out the awful situation in Syria. More than 60,000 lives have been lost, 2 million people have been displaced internally, 2 million are in need of humanitarian aid and huge numbers have been driven not only out of their homes but out of their country. I do not know if the European Union has done enough to pressurise Russia and China on the politics they have been playing at the United Nations. In a crisis such as this, it is not a time for politics as usual. In correspondence we receive from concerned citizens in our country, people express their sheer disappointment at the lack of progress in trying to deal with a very difficult issue. The international community must do more. I welcome the fact that last week the Government provided €5 million in additional humanitarian aid following a conference with the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Joe Costello, attended.

Mr. Lambrinidis mentioned that the EU is rusty in its approach. If the witness had the opportunity to draw up a template for the European Union how would he brush away that rust? He also mentioned a considerable lack of uniformity in approach to NGOs. Is there a lack of uniformity within the 27 member states of the European Union in dealing with NGOs? I was glad to note that Mr. Lambrinidis laid particular emphasis on the important role of the work of NGOs in partnership with governments throughout the world. He referred particularly to Russia. He highlighted the importance of ensuring that NGOs were given the space to do the important work they can carry out.