Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

We are jointly engaged with a Finnish contingent in the Lebanon and that is envisaged to be the position for some little time.

With regard to Syria, in the context of the six point plan that Kofi Annan has been engaged with arising out of UN decisions, six members of the Defence Forces are engaged as monitors in an overall contingent of 300. I had particular concerns about the safety of the monitors given the manner in which that conflict was continuing. The sad reality is that the six-point plan has not worked to date. Moreover, there is no indication that the murderous campaign being waged by the Assad regime against its own citizens is coming to an end or that the groups opposed to the regime have any intention of laying down their arms. The unfortunate reality is that the level of violence has escalated since our monitors travelled to Syria. The role of these personnel, who are unarmed, was to have overseen matters following the ending of violence. As matters stand, all of the monitors are stationed in headquarters and are not conducting monitoring activities. I have conveyed my concerns regarding the safety of our personnel. The engagement was initially expected to last 90 days, which means it will come to an end around 20 July unless it is renewed by the United Nations.

It is my hope that the conflict in Syria will cease, the monitors can perform the function for which they were deployed and the Kofi Annan plan will be successful, but I am not optimistic it will happen. My position is that our monitors should only remain in place if they have a proper role to play in maintaining peace. I am keeping the situation under review on a day-to-day basis and receiving regular reports on how matters are proceeding. Unfortunately, the barbarity of the conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of many thousands of individuals, does not give rise to optimism that the violence will end soon.

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