Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)

The answer to the question posed by Deputy Harris is "Now". This is the point at which the international community must say, "Stop". Over 6,000 people have died in Syria since this time last year, an extraordinary and dreadful fact. We have seen escalating violence in the past week or two which was clearly described by Deputy Harris. Even in the last few days we have seen people whose job it is to report and be a witness of what happens in war situations and its impact on human beings, including young people, children and families, being attacked. Marie Colvin of The Sunday Times, a journalist doing no more than her job of being that witness, was herself killed, with one of her colleagues, in the course of one of these shocking attacks. She was a renowned journalist and a solid, reliable and robust witness to the impact of war in Syria and many other places where she had worked.

The answer to the question has to be that now is the time for the international community to respond. I know the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will attend a meeting in Tunis on Friday. It is not directly related to Syria but I understand attempts will be made, whether at the margins or otherwise of that meeting, to address this pressing and shocking issue for the international community.

We have much to preoccupy ourselves in this country, but it is essential we lift our heads from the challenges we face to see what is happening to ordinary human beings in another part of the world. The international community must respond, perhaps by way of armed assistance to the opposition. The opposition is fragmented but it is starting to indicate that it wants a clearer form of international intervention. There must be a stepping up to the plate by Russia and China. It is not acceptable for those two influential countries to maintain a veto on what the international community must do in that country.

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