Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that the Government has pledged €2 million in funding to provide life-saving emergency assistance to civilians in the Central African Republic. That country is one of the most disadvantaged states in Africa. Its population was extremely vulnerable before the outbreak of this crisis, so I hope the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to do all it can to alleviate the suffering of those civilians.

Today, Mr. John Ging of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that the Central African Republic was in a mega crisis, so to speak. The violence has also led to the displacement of almost 1 million people who have had to leave their homes throughout the country. Does the Government have any specific plans to help these displaced people?

The Tánaiste said that the matter will be discussed shortly by EU foreign ministers, including the possibility of sending an EU military force to the Central African Republic. Has the Tánaiste been involved in discussions leading up to this and is he in favour of sending Irish troops to the region? Has this been discussed at Cabinet level?

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