Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

Deputy Troy is right judging by what we see in the media every day. The number of deaths is appalling and civilians are suffering significant casualties. It is not the UN that is the problem. The problem lies with two countries, Russia and China because they have not consented to a UN security resolution. In the absence of the resolution, we cannot send forces to Syria. To attempt to do so, would be an invasion of that country and we cannot do that. What we are doing is investing over €500,000 in humanitarian aid through the Red Cross and other agencies. This is very important and is the area on which we must focus at this time.

In response to a request from the EUTM mission commander, this week the Government approved the deployment of three additional members of the Permanent Defence Forces for service in Somalia. Also, Ireland has received an invitation from the operational commander of operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta to contribute an autonomous vessel protection detachment, AVPD, for the operation. The Department is considering whether it will be in a position to contribute an AVPD to this operation. Apart from these request, no other requests are being considered at this time.

See this speech in context