Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the committee, I thank Mr. Rajasingham for meeting various members of the committee today and comprehensively answering their questions. On behalf of the extended Oireachtas, I thank Mr. Rajasingham for the work done by his office especially, as many members said, considering the risk and danger. He and his colleagues put themselves in the line of danger. The information that he and his office gather and relay and its report mechanisms to bodies such as ours contributes greatly and significantly to the response, and not only from a monetary perspective but in terms of issues of great concern to many of us, that we see and witness, especially in the last number of weeks. It is devastating to say the least to watch this unfold. To think that we have mechanisms in place that refer to the manner in which these atrocities are carried out, the thin line between defending oneself and waging war on children, as relayed earlier, is something we cannot lose sight of.

We implore the UNOCHA and all other actors in the area to use the powers available to them to ensure the conflict comes to an end as soon as it is practically possible. We have seen in our own country the role that hatred can play and how it disintegrates into something unconscionable which, as Deputy Cronin said, we saw on our screens in recent nights. It is imperative that reason eventually grabs hold, and that time and space is given to look again at some of the solutions that maybe were not given the chance and opportunity to succeed. I hope that the efforts of UNOCHA and our efforts, in whatever role we play, are used to best possible ends, which is peace.