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

I thank the Minister for his reply. I concur with all the sentiments he has outlined. As he is aware, it has been estimated that at least 25 to 30 Irish citizens have travelled to Middle East conflict zones in the last four years. He will also be aware that three Irish citizens have died in the conflict zones in that region since 2010. Does the Minister have any reasonable grounds to accept that those figures are correct? He is probably aware that a report compiled by CNN in 2014 suggested that Finland is the only country that is the country of origin of more foreign fighters per head of population than Ireland. The EU Commission estimates that approximately 5,000 people have left Europe to fight in wars in Syria and Iraq. Those countries were mentioned by the Minister earlier. Does the information available to the Minister, to the EU or to other State agencies, particularly the Department of Justice and Equality, if that information is available to the Minister, confirm or refute the figures I have quoted, which have been in the public domain for some time?

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