Dr. Ahmad al Khaddour:

I thank the Chairman and members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence for the invitation here. We are honoured and are privileged to be with the committee today. I am a cardiothoracic surgeon. After I lived and trained in the UK for 17 years I qualified from the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin. I did my last exam in Cork in 2013. I was honoured to get this qualification. Having lived in England for 17 years, two years ago I moved to Damascus to work in one of the main hospitals in Damascus as a cardiothoracic surgeon.

I have come to the committee today to speak about the situation we are suffering on a daily basis, with a focus on the medical aspect. Syria has been transformed during this crisis from a country that exported medicine to more than 80 countries to being a country that is getting bits and pieces of medicine from here and there. EU sanctions have affected our medical system very badly. We have a shortage of supply on a daily basis. Children are dying because there is no medicine.

Children are affected by the weather because there is no fuel to heat. The situation is very bad and the European sanctions have had very bad effects.

We came here to pass on a message that Syria needs help from Ireland and similar countries. Irish people should come to Damascus to see the situation for themselves, rather than believing the propaganda. I take this opportunity to thank two people from the Irish Parliament, namely, Deputy Clare Daly and Senator David Norris, for their help in trying to reunite Syrian Palestinian, Mrs. Hajar Saleh, one of my nurses in Damascus, with her grandson, Gafar Azouz, who was the only survivor when his entire family was gunned down on the Turkish border. I thank the joint committee again for its help and for extending this invitation to me. I am privileged and honoured to be here today.