Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree wholeheartedly that we can never do enough in this regard but the problem is the conflict has moved into its eighth year. The indiscriminate attacks on, and bombing of, eastern Ghouta is a carbon copy of what happened in Aleppo when the international community effectively stood by, although it does care about it. We must examine how the veto works at the UN Security Council and Russia's role as a member of the council while also being a major player in the region and a major supporter of the Assad regime. It is more worrying that the war has become a global war being fought out in Syria involving different global partners. The conflict has become more complex and the longer it goes on, the less opportunity there will be to end it in the short term.

I wonder, on foot of his discussions with colleagues in the region - I know he has visited the region - what the view is there. Is there any chink of light or any hope at all in regard to the stalled talks? While I know it is difficult to include Assad in those talks, perhaps there is an attempt to include members of the regime to try to bring about a ceasefire, or are we really just waiting for Assad to effectively win the war and wipe out the opposition?

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