Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Let us do that. I appreciate Deputy Ó Laoghaire's raising of this issue. He is entirely right; not alone is the world not doing enough about the issue but it is not even getting enough attention, bandwidth or discussion, yet the scale of the catastrophe is huge. Ireland has consistently advocated for greater international attention. We must challenge ourselves and see what more we can do. We have brought it up everywhere we go - in the EU and the UN - and we have tried to keep it on the agenda. We brought it up yesterday at the Foreign Affairs Council. In the discussion we expressed support for the excellent work done by the EU special representative, Annette Weber. We reiterated our desire to see an effective mediation process, improvement in humanitarian access, a credible prospect for civilian governance, justice and accountability for the people of Sudan. We issued a number of statements on it. We are part of a core group of like-minded EU member states who most recently met at official level on 7 May to discuss the EU's collective approach. Senior officials in my Department have also raised their concerns about Sudan on a number of occasions, most notably during political consultations on the Middle East, including Abu Dhabi. We provided €14 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan in 2024. We also provided €5 million to the Sudan humanitarian fund and a further €2.7 million to NGOs working with Sudanese refugees so far this year.

I do not disagree with the Deputy's analysis at all. Ireland needs to do more, but so too does the international community. I am very happy to provide the committee with a detailed briefing note. Let us see how we can do more together on it.