Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We must see it in the context of where Ireland sits. Ireland is very much part of the international response which sits within the UN infrastructure where there is a special UN envoy, Mr. Anthony Banbury, who is on the ground in the three countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea in particular. I did not participate in the donor conference in London last week because I was in Sierra Leone. The President of Sierra Leone was unable to attend the conference and we met him in Sierra Leone.

The issue here is not the monetary response per se. I am confident that, through the UN infrastructure, the political willingness exists given the mandate the United Nations has to deal with this. From a European Union perspective, I tend to agree with the Deputy's point in that there needs to be a more robust political response at an EU level to ensure that, with the €180 million which is committed by the EU, there is a political pressure or diplomatic effort applied in those countries as well as a medical and humanitarian response to ensure those systems-----

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