David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I was asking about the declaration, at UN level, of famine in that part of the world. It is one option that is being considered but I am not sure where it is at. We discussed it at the last meeting here. Again, the response was that it might not make that much difference at the end of the day. I believe we need to use every opportunity we can and every available strategy to improve matters for the people there.

Deputy Brady mentioned peacekeeping and the possibility of peacekeeping operations in the area. Will the Minister of State fill us in on whether that is something we should be contemplating and pushing for? I am aware things have improved in Eritrea and in Tigray in particular, but that was a huge worry for quite a while. Will the Minister of State fill us in on what is actually happening there right now, if he has that information?

Child wasting has been mentioned. Again, if one thinks of one's own children and grandchildren, it is something that is just inconceivable. The whole thing is just awful. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the situation by cutting off vital food supplies and reducing vital food supplies to that region. It has a terrible impact on that.

I am not sure what else we can do. We were anxious that the Minister of State would come to the committee and I thank him for coming here to have this engagement to highlight the issue. Many Irish people are sharing and giving of themselves. We are known as a nation of givers and for making contributions to the various agencies. I am not sure if the Minister of State has any information on that at the moment and how that is going. The more we can highlight this, the more help we can get locally, nationally, at European level and internationally.

I thank the Minister of State for what he is doing and for visiting the area. I note that the Minister of State was the first such Minister to visit certain parts there. That must have been pretty harrowing for him and his staff. We must recognise the work being done there on the ground by various volunteers and agencies, and I thank them for that. Not only are they going through what I have been told are life changing events they will never get over or forget, but also they very often put themselves at risk because of the situation described by the Minister of State. There is also the issue of gender-based violence. This is another whole area on which we could meet, including the role of women, girls and children and how they are being impacted by all of this. I thank the Minister of State, his officials and the various agencies for the work they are doing.