Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am substituting for my colleague, Deputy Seán Crowe today. I dtús báire ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh na toscairí atá anseo. I wish the delegation well on its journey. It has been a long journey by the look of it considering where Syria is today and where it was many years ago when it was an example to many in the world. I am from a party that was censored for many years and which had propaganda spewed against it. It continues to this day to a degree so I understand the need to have the truth and to see the truth for myself. I apologise that I have not been to Syria in recent years but the next best thing is to hear from these and other witnesses exactly what is happening on the ground. There will be versions of the truth and the job of the committee is to plough our way as much as we can to figure out where we can help and what we can do to help to create a greater understanding of the horrors of war in Syria.

The conflict has been simplistically described as involving Daesh and the rebels on one side, the Russians and the Syrian Government on another and the US and the rebels on yet another side. The truth is a lot more complex, as is the case with any war.

The witnesses mentioned the desire for peace and that is the one of the main points I will take away from today's meeting. Sometimes it is very difficult to see, in the depths of a war, that peace is a lot closer than it seems. The delegation here today is reaching out and calling for peace, as are many within Syria itself. I wish the witnesses well in that.

I ask the witnesses to outline what they can see ahead, beyond the destruction. The horror of the war sometimes clouds our vision. What is the vision, given what has happened? We cannot go back to the situation that pertained five or six years ago, so what is the new vision? What can be salvaged?

Have the witnesses' churches and faith followers been targeted in the same way as the Yazidis? We have all heard about the Yazidis, about the destruction of their homes and the fact that they have been specifically targeted during this war. Have there been similar sectarian attacks against the followers of the witnesses' churches?

Since the relief of parts of Aleppo, have the witnesses been in touch with people who have come out of that siege? How has that siege affected the people? Can they see any hope of peace? Mention was made of the tentative peace moves of late. Is it just the Russians who are involved in such moves or are there other negotiations taking place?

Mention was also made of the attacks on medical facilities. Do the witnesses condemn such attacks, regardless of who the perpetrators are or who is running such medical facilities, that is, whether they are controlled by the regime or the rebels?

Finally, I wish the witnesses well. In my lifetime I have never seen this type of horror rained down on a population. International wars and disputes are being fought out on the witnesses' lands, which should never have happened. International might is trying to decide the future of Syria rather than the Syrian people themselves.