Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, represented Ireland at the international pledging conference for Syria which was held in Kuwait on 31 March. He announced that in 2015 Ireland would provide a further €12 million in humanitarian assistance for those suffering as a result of the conflict. In total, the international community pledged some €3.5 billion in humanitarian assistance at the conference.

The crisis in Syria and the region has now entered its fifth year. The human impact of the violence and displacement of communities has been devastating. Some 220,000 Syrians have been killed, and almost 4 million have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries.

Ireland has been one of the most generous international contributors to the Syrian humanitarian response on a per capitabasis. Our pledge for 2015 will bring the Government's overall response to €41 million. I recognise that this can only address the humanitarian crisis and that international efforts must be strengthened towards a long-term political solution in Syria and the region.

I remain extremely concerned about the appalling suffering visited upon the Syrian people, and especially by recent reports about the situation of the remaining population of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus.

There are now 18,000 civilians remaining in that camp, including 3,500 children. The Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, specifically raised Ireland's concerns about the camp with the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency when they met at the Syria pledging conference. I call on all parties to cease armed activity in the camp and to provide unhindered humanitarian access to those in need.

Deputy Crowe raised the point about how to ensure the various pledges are honoured. Recently, I attended a Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo and I had the opportunity of pledging funds for the reconstruction of Gaza again. Regrettably, the reconstruction work in Gaza did not take place in the manner hoped for at the conference and thereafter. I am calling on our international colleagues to ensure the pledges are complied with. However, this is contingent upon works taking place in the region in the form of house construction and infrastructural developments on an ongoing basis.

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