Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I am deeply concerned at the continuing deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Iraq and in particular the situation of internally displaced persons, refugees and vulnerable populations. I therefore welcome the decision of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, to hold the international conference in Geneva on 17 April which will address the humanitarian needs of refugees and internally displaced persons inside Iraq and in neighbouring countries. Ireland will be appropriately represented at this important conference.

I was also pleased that a regional conference of Iraq's neighbours, which was held in Baghdad on 10 March, set up a working group to examine the issues relating to Iraqi refugees and displaced persons with the support of the United Nations.

The Government is committed to assisting the vulnerable population in Iraq. In January we made a pledge of €3 million for emergency humanitarian assistance for victims of the conflict. This pledge, which is additional to the €7.9 million already provided by Ireland for humanitarian relief since 2003, is being targeted at agencies working with the growing number of families that have been forced by the violence to flee their homes. In this regard, and in light of the deteriorating situation and the growing number of refugees and internally displaced persons, we made specific support of €500,000 available to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees in late 2006 for its Iraq operations. I am confident that Ireland will be in a position to offer further specific financial support at the forthcoming conference in April.

We are particularly concerned at the plight of the Palestinian population in the current crisis. Ireland continues to be a strong supporter of the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA. UNRWA is the main provider of basic services, including education, health, relief and social services, to more than 4.3 million registered Palestinian refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. This year the Government increased our support to UNRWA by providing it with €3.8 million, an increase of 25% on 2006. Furthermore, we have made a commitment to maintain this increased level of funding for at least three years. This core funding facilitates UNRWA in responding with flexibility to Palestinian needs in the West Bank, Gaza and also in the region, including the needs of Palestinian refugees arriving into Jordan and Syria from Iraq.

Selection of refugees for resettlement in Ireland under the programme refugee scheme is a matter for my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell.

I wish to assure the Deputy that we are determined to do our part to ensure that help is delivered to those most in need in Iraq and neighbouring countries as swiftly as possible.

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