Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the kind words at the start of his contribution, which I appreciate. I also thank him for the number of times he has raised this vital issue. What was a beautiful summer for many of us was haunted by those awful images we saw of the use of chemical weapons on those poor communities. Whether those weapons would be used was a fear many people had and it was truly horrific to see them being deployed by a state against its own people.

The Deputy touched on a number of areas which are very relevant to the scale of challenges we face. He very accurately said that this is the largest displacement of individuals in modern times. I had a meeting with a delegation from Turkey today. It has almost 500,000 Syrians within its borders who have been displaced by the degree of violence and civil war to which the Deputy referred. The Deputy was correct to identify the scale of deaths which occurred before the terrible events we are discussing. He identified a deep complexity within this situation which is that it is a highly fragmented political situation. The Deputy also identified the great difficulty any outside groups have in regard to playing in a role in it. As he noted, if any group in that environment is seen to get support from the outside, it can only lead to further instability.

The Deputy articulated concern regarding the inability of European institutions to play a firmer role in putting together a response in this regard. I point out that many members of the European Union have the same concerns we do regarding the delegation of sovereignty in the areas of foreign policy and defence policy to European institutions. Many of the issues on which we have touched are those which governments decide for themselves. They try to reach agreement. We would be sensitive to an outside body having a role in regard to the deployment of our armed forces elsewhere.

It is understandable that other countries would feel the same.

I would like to respond to some of the particular points raised with me by the Deputy. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, which was established under the Chemical Weapons Convention, will be playing a role in this regard. I think the Deputy referred to the convention. Ireland is currently a member of the executive council of the OPCW. Through that body, we will reach an understanding on how and when our funding will be deployed and what decision-making process will be used when these weapons are being destroyed and decommissioned. I understand that Ireland, along with other members of the executive council of the OPCW, is awaiting a draft decision from bodies that are involved in this negotiation. It is foreseen that the inspectors will inspect all chemical weapons storage and production facilities in Syria. This will begin very shortly as a first step. Subsequently, a detailed destruction plan will be developed. I cannot confirm for the Deputy the detail of the discussion with the Syrian authorities on the cost plan. I can confirm, however, on the basis of comments I have seen elsewhere, that the cost involved in this exercise will be truly gigantic. That is why countries like Ireland are playing a role in the hoped-for destruction of these weapons.

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