Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have some questions and it would be good to get answers. While I do not want to pin the Minister of State down to providing the answers today, it would be great to get a response.

To put things in context, I echo the words of Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan. We are also of the opinion that we should not be taking sides in any war. It was unfortunate that Syria had to seek the help of Russia and Iran for protection because it was about to be obliterated by the jihadists, who were being armed by the Saudis, the Israelis, the US and, sadly, the EU. Syria would rather be independent and not dependent on any imperialist power, of which the Russians are one. There is no such thing as a nice imperialist power, no more than, as Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan said, there can be a nice side in any war.

A huge problem is brewing in Syria. The jihadists were holding out in many different regions of Syria and they are slowly but surely being forced out of them. Deals are being done where the government and the Syrian Arab Army get the people to move out and offer an option to the jihadists to move to Idlib. At this stage an incredible number of people have arrived in Idlib, which is controlled by the jihadists with the help of Turkey. It is not far from the Turkish border and we were not too far away from it ourselves last week. There are now thousands of jihadists in Idlib and nobody wants them. The US and the EU armed and funded them, as did the Saudis and the Israelis. Turkey let them across the border, or at least, if some crossed from Jordan, most came from Turkey. Now, nobody wants them.

Turkey, which let them in, does not want to let them come back. The Arabs do not want them. Certainly, Syria does not want them. Syria says it is prepared to work with Syrians who took sides against it but not with the foreigners and I note that 95% of them are foreign.

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