Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is leading political negotiations to end the conflict based on the 2012 Geneva communique and UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Ireland and the EU fully support this process. The EU provides direct assistance to the UN-led Geneva peace talks and has launched, in co-ordination with the UN, an initiative to develop political dialogue with key actors from the region to identify common ground. Ireland strongly welcomed the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2401 on 24 February. This resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access.

The international community must redouble efforts to press for the immediate and full implementation of the ceasefire, and unimpeded humanitarian access to populations in need. EU Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in Syria at their informal meeting on 15 February and again at the Foreign Affairs Council meetings on 26 February and 19 March. The EU and its member states have to date mobilised more than €10.4 billion for humanitarian assistance inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, making the EU the largest donor to the effort. The EU hosted a donor conference for Syria in April 2017 at which pledges totalling €5.6 billion were made, and will host another donor conference on Syria in April 2018.

Since 2012, Ireland has contributed over €95 million to the humanitarian effort in response to the conflict in Syria. Ireland will make a further pledge of humanitarian support in 2018 at the Brussels donor conference next month. Ireland also provides political and financial support to a broad range of measures to ensure full legal accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria. However, the direct answer to the Deputy's question is we never can do enough until the conflict is over. In the years ahead, history will judge the international community harshly in terms of how the conflict developed over a long period and the number of civilians who have lost their lives as a result.

See this speech in context