Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh agus arís gabhaim buíochas leis an Taoiseach as a chuid freagraí.

I will take this opportunity to raise the issue of Syria with the Taoiseach. On Saturday, the United States, Britain and France launched airstrikes there, which all reasonable and right-thinking people will find abhorrent, just as they would find abhorrent the use of chemical weapons by anybody. Such intervention is wrong and has represented a very significant escalation of tension in the region. The intensification of the military conflict is not a credible way to save Syrian lives. The deployment of more western forces in Syria or any further bombing will not bring an end to or shorten the conflict in any way. The international community has to be consistent in its application of international law and policy in which peace and protecting civilian life has to be the absolute priority. That holds for Syria, Palestine and all other conflict areas. There has to be a political solution. What we need to see in Syria is a lasting ceasefire and a political process to bring about the end of conflict. That is what the Government and all Governments should be seeking to do. Will the Taoiseach make this point and raise the issue with his counterparts in the US, Britain and France? Will he raise it at an EU and UN level?

On 27 March, the Taoiseach took the decision to expel a Russian diplomat based on British military intelligence. Only three days after he took that decision, 750 innocent Palestinian protestors were wounded by Israeli soldiers at a peaceful planned march in Gaza. Fifteen civilians were killed. Over the two weeks which followed, that death toll reached 31, with more than 1,000 injured, yet not one Israeli diplomat was challenged, much less expelled. Why the double standards?

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