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

At present, there is not agreement that it will be extended. We are working on that and speaking to the key actors. Clearly, Russia is an absolutely key actor here, as is Turkey, as is Iran. Of course, some of these countries are not on the Security Council but are influential over countries that are.

The reason I am so exercised about this is that if one speaks to the NGOs that are providing daily humanitarian assistance, in some cases into tented villages or makeshift homes, one will learn that they are desperate to keep this supply chain open. The alternative to having a UN-monitored, UN-managed and transparent crossing where huge volumes of humanitarian assistance can be brought to close to 3 million people is to have unaccountable border crossings where sporadic aid will get in, but with such levels of aid certainly not being anything like sufficient to deal with the numbers who need it. In such circumstances, one will see mass movement of people - some of them coming across the border into Turkey - and all the tensions that will cause. From a humanitarian point of view, we will be appealing to all of the countries that are involved in this process to find a way of agreeing a resolution that can allow this aid to continue to flow.

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