Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The key word is "urgency". There is no doubt that one crisis will overtake another. Gaza was overtaken by Syria, Syria is now being overtaken by the crisis in Ukraine and I have no doubt that the next one will be Libya. I had the opportunity, with the foreign affairs committee and at the invitation of GOAL, to visit the Turkish-Syrian border recently and we saw the extent of the humanitarian aid. I want to acknowledge the Syrian employees of NGOs who are working inside Syria. We understand that only 46% of the aid that has been pledged in the humanitarian area has been realised, and some of the biggest culprits in this regard are the Gulf states. There should be a stronger effort to ensure that all the humanitarian aid that has been promised is delivered. There is a particular issue with regard to the use of barrel bombs. This is an issue that must be addressed at the UN and at EU level. A strong condemnation of the war crimes by all parties in the conflict - war crimes that include rape, violence and the use of children as soldiers - is necessary.

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