Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for his comprehensive reply. I welcome his statement at the United Nations General Assembly and his pursuing of this issue with his colleagues at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council. Every conflict is frightening, but the awful tragedies, including the mass murder of so many people, we see on our television screens every day is particularly frightening. I understand that approximately 30,000 people have been killed in just over a year since the protests erupted. The following quotation is attributed to the international charity Save the Children:

As Syria’s civil war has intensified, thousands of children have died in brutal attacks and many more have been injured, traumatised or forced to flee their homes.

Boys and girls continue to be killed, maimed and tortured. These appalling violations against children must stop and those carrying them out held to account.

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