Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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I thank our wonderful guests. It has been an eye-opening experience to hear directly from representatives of Médecins Sans Frontières. I am sure they can appreciate that, in our role as a foreign affairs and defence committee, we receive much correspondence from many different areas. Even so, I must be honest and say that nothing has struck me as much as a sentence in the documentation our guests provided, namely, “The little girl was malnourished from the very first day of her life.” That really struck me.

My first questions are for Ms Simpson. This is the 50th anniversary of Médecins Sans Frontières. That is an achievement in itself and one which the organisation should celebrate where the opportunity presents itself. She mentioned the increasing impact of climate change. Perhaps she will give some us information on MSF’s experience of climate change and the role it has played over the past 50 years. What changes arising from climate change has the organisation seen?

Ms Simpson went on to mention Covid, and we all know the impact that has had throughout the world. She referred to other medical technologies. Will she elaborate on them?

Finally, will Ms Simpson give us a broader understanding of the role played by the search and rescue ship in the central Mediterranean Sea and the kind of work it undertakes?

Ms Leahy spoke about Boost hospital, its 1,300 staff and the 900 people, most of them children, who arrive every day. Will she outline the capacity in that hospital and describe the facilities? She spoke also of an area from which MSF sees very few people coming. It may be slightly naïve of me to ask, but is that because they have access to other medical care, or is it an area MSF considers of deep concern because so few people from that area come forward seeking medical attention? There was a reference to 100 babies being born in a single day. That is a major maternity hospital in and of itself, which is why I would like to know more about the capacity and the facilities at the hospital.