Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

The international fund I referred to has a target of €300 million to assist with the demobilisation and reintegration process. Ireland is playing its part — since 2003 we have contributed €12 million to the conflict areas in emergency and recovery funding. We provided €6 million this year and, on top of that, we are providing €1.3 million for the electoral process. The hope is that by the second round of elections due at the end of this month, the situation will have stabilised. A total of 19,000 have already been demobilised under this and other programmes run by the Congolese Government. It is a scandal that 11,000 children are still in this position but we will work on that and Ireland is in a position to hold the Congolese Government to account over these children who have not been reintegrated into the community.

Ireland does not shy away from this. We think it is a scandal that children are used as soldiers. It is a terrible problem across Africa. We saw similar situations in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Darfur, where young people are running around with Kalashnikov rifles having been enticed by money, drugs and, in the poor settings of these countries, the desire to escape their existing misery by participating in these armies. It is a complicated issue to address because people are recruited as children for the money and the good life offered by an escape from the extreme poverty of their homes in countries experiencing conflict. Often it is more enjoyable for youngsters to take off with these warlords than to stay at home. We are focused on the issue.

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