Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Walsh, Mullen, Quinn, Higgins, Reilly, Burke, Mooney, O'Keeffe and Barrett for their wide-ranging and valuable contributions, questions and comments. There is not a stone that has not been upturned and examined.

Many Senators asked how we could raise awareness of the dire crises that are taking place in so many areas. There are three emergencies at the same time in the same year, which is unique to the United Nations, and the challenge is enormous. The pressures on donor countries, the United Nations and European Union to provide resources and funding are considerable. There is a need to raise awareness of how dire circumstances are. In Syria there is an incredibly difficult and complicated humanitarian disaster. Any attempt to deal with it is surrounded by great difficulties and controversies on the basis of positions taken by a number of countries. The Central African Republic has virtually no administration or infrastructure and it has been left in poverty ever since its foundation in 1960. This is at the heart of the problems now being experienced. The problem has been bubbling under the surface for a long time and it has now exploded, leaving the whole country in crisis.

It is important that we get the message out, including to our own people. A debate such as this one in the Parliament is enormously valuable. Through a range of programmes in the schools, we constantly seek to get the message out on circumstances and crises in developing countries and fragile states. For example, I launched a programme last week involving 1,000 schools. They are carrying out projects on the countries we are talking about and others. There is considerable emphasis on development education in my Department, particularly in the formal school system at both primary and secondary levels. In the universities, there is much engagement. In the adult and community areas, we have an education programme and a funding arrangement. Senators might examine community development in their areas if there is an educational element that relates to crises and fragile countries. We have the means to resource it.

I was struck by the references many Senators made to the good work done by officials in my Department and our rapid response corps, which is on the ground in difficult circumstances.

They also mentioned the Irish non-governmental organisations, which are very much at the cutting edge and some of my predecessors in government, namely, the former Ministers of State, Barry Andrews and Peter Power, now lead GOAL and UNICEF, respectively, here in Ireland. This is a remarkable situation that I was delighted to see develop and they are very outspoken on these issues as well. While that all is very important, the role all Members play as parliamentarians in these Houses is crucial. If Members did not play that role and if support was not forthcoming from the Houses of Parliament for the Irish aid budget, which the Government has been able to maintain at a high level in the most difficult of circumstances, it would have been impossible for Ireland to play the role it plays in respect of providing resources and funds in the form of actual humanitarian aid on the ground, having personnel provide their skills and expertise or having the Defence Forces or the police help in peacekeeping and training situations. Many Irish personnel actually are training police and military personnel in African countries in particular.

A question was raised regarding the placement of refugees and last year, through the Government's resettlement programme, 31 refugees were resettled from Syria. This year, the entire cohort or quota in the refugee resettlement programme, that is, 90, will be from Syria. This already has been agreed by the Minister for Justice and Equality and while perhaps it should be more, at present the entire resettlement programme will be devoted to Syrian refugees. Syria, if not the worst disaster in the millennium, certainly is one of the worst disasters that has ever been experienced. In excess of 130,000 people are dead, in excess of 2.5 million people are refugees and half the population of 22 million has been displaced. The entire population is under pressure, vulnerable and in need of humanitarian aid in many areas throughout the country.

On the difficulty of access being experienced, the priority in the initial Geneva II talks that are taking place at present is to find ways to access, on a humanitarian basis, the areas that are excluded at the present time. It is extremely difficult because of the nature of the opposition forces on the one hand, which very often are fighting one another and at loggerheads, and on the other hand one has the regime and the pressures that are put to prevent access. The Government is not convinced that the provision of humanitarian corridors by military force, as has been suggested, is an effective mechanism. What is needed is agreement among those engaged to allow humanitarian access and to allow aid. This is what the Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, Valerie Amos, has presented as the official position from the United Nations. It proposes the granting of medical supplies, demilitarising medical facilities, prior notification to civilians and convoys of military offensives, designation of priority humanitarian routes, including those across front lines, to allow safe passage of aid convoys, the use of humanitarian pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian access to people and the use of cross-border operations where appropriate. The discussions are taking place along those lines at present to try to provide safe passage and access. Indeed, I recently met the Foreign Minister of Iran and urged him to use his good offices with the regime to allow humanitarian access and he promised to do so. However, it still is very much a sticking point and the conditionality that is being imposed in respect of Homs, for example, still is a matter to be resolved. While Lakhdar Brahimi indicates some progress is being made, we are a long way from a successful process being put in place at present.

As many Members have mentioned, the neighbouring countries surrounding Syria are under enormous pressure. I have visited Jordan and Lebanon, the Tánaiste has visited Turkey and many Members also have visited the region. The number of people who are officially registered under the auspices of the United Nations when combined with the number of those who simply have crossed the border, are not registered but are distributed throughout these countries obviously is even higher than the current official figure, which is approximately 2.5 million people. Apart from Turkey, these are small countries. Lebanon and Jordan are tiny countries that are of similar size to Ireland or smaller and they have very poor infrastructure. They have an inadequacy of services and providing an extension of those services to cater for the influx of the vast quantity of refugees is putting a huge strain on their resources. The Government is highly cognisant of this and of the perception that if this continues, the number of refugees could be up to 4 million by the end of the year and that these countries would almost collapse under the pressure it is imposing. This is a serious matter and it is not simply a question of humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugees and displaced persons but also is a question of assisting with the infrastructure that provides education, health and all the other services for which these countries need resources. The Government is focused strongly on that and wishes to and probably will place greater emphasis on it. I am thinking seriously of Ireland engaging in an initiative with other like-minded countries to come together and seek to address that particular aspect of the problem almost separately. I acknowledge it cannot be addressed separately in its own right but it was being discussed last week in Brussels. It is a major problem, whereby the entire surrounding area could collapse very easily.

On the pledges the Government has made for Syria, I note the target for donors was $6.5 billion in pledges, while the pledging reached $2.4 billion. It is a long way short of what was sought and consequently, the $2.4 billion that was obtained will only supply sufficient resources up to the middle of this year. There now is donor fatigue in respect of the enormity of the problems that exist and of these emergencies. They are so huge and the problems of Syria are of such magnitude that they pose a serious question of and problem for the resources of the United Nations, the other multilateral organisations and indeed the overall community, even though it has been extended and the Gulf states are far more involved now in providing much more money than they did in the past. A number of Senators mentioned the question of actually delivering on the pledges, which remains an issue. Ireland always delivers 100% on its pledges but some countries make pledges and then the delivery is not 100%. At all the meetings the Government attends, it wishes to emphasise the need for the various countries to continue to provide fully their pledges.

I have a few notes that summarise matters in broad context, which I will now deliver. I reiterate my thanks to Members and will conclude by making a few overall points that link together many of the themes that have been discussed here today. Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic all are experiencing extremely serious humanitarian crises caused by conflict.

In some important respects Syria stands alone, both in terms of the scale of the suffering, the ramifications within the region and the fact that solving the humanitarian crisis requires a political solution which involves many of the world's leading global players, not least the United States and Russia.

Ireland has always argued the need to keep the humanitarian issue at the top of the agenda while understanding that only a political solution can bring the suffering of the Syrian people to an end. Syria is ultimately a political crisis, with serious humanitarian consequences. In this context, the process now ongoing in Geneva is vitally important. It is likely to be slow and difficult, and initial signs are that the process of securing agreement between the parties to the conflict will be a challenging one. In the end, however, only a comprehensive political solution can ensure that this humanitarian crisis is finally ended.

On the point about refugees, I stress that Ireland is firmly of the view that Syria's neighbouring states cannot and should not be shouldering the burden of hosting the influx of Syrian refugees. It is for this reason that much of our support has been targeted at supporting citizens displaced within Syria and across the wider region.

It is essential that those most affected by the conflict are able to benefit from the humanitarian assistance pledged in Kuwait earlier this month. Together with our international partners, Ireland will continue to call on all parties to ensure that this aid reaches its intended destination by providing unhindered access for humanitarian assistance and to protecting civilians, including humanitarian workers and key medical staff who are in the front line of response to victims of violence.

Unlike Syria, even before the current crises erupted, the Central African Republic, CAR, and South Sudan were two of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, facing a myriad of problems exacerbated by inter-communal tensions. Sadly, they are both examples of what we call "forgotten crises", a priority area for Irish humanitarian effort. Ireland’s engagement in both countries has unfortunately been ongoing for many years and this is a tangible demonstration of the fact that long after the television cameras and reporters switch their attention away from the scene of a humanitarian emergency, Irish Aid maintains its focus and ensures that the many vulnerable people affected as a result of long-running conflicts are not forgotten.

One effect of the recent escalation of the situation in the Central African Republic is that, for the moment at least, it has ceased to be a forgotten crisis by the international community. The violence, the despatch by France of a small peacekeeping force, and the sustained media coverage of the deepening ethnic tensions have focused international attention on this country arguably for the first time. However, Ireland can say with some justification and pride that we had not forgotten about the people of the CAR, being until recently one of only two EU member states to donate to the United Nations Common Humanitarian Fund for that country. In addition to our financial aid, Ireland has consistently highlighted the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic with our EU partners in Brussels and other international fora.

It is essential that as we look at addressing the needs of the humanitarian emergencies in South Sudan and the Central African Republic, we recognise that religion or different tribal roots are not the root cause of the violence we have witnessed in recent months. Rather, these crisis situations are the outcome of years and indeed decades of endemic poverty, under-development, weak democratic institutions and neglect by the international community. We must ensure that in responding to emergency needs, we work simultaneously to address the underlying causes and ultimately seek to build the resilience of very vulnerable populations. In mobilising funds for the immediate humanitarian response, we must also examine ways to ensure that we continue to support the people of the Central African Republic and South Sudan into the future.

The international community must continue to learn the lessons of the past and try to become better at anticipating crises before they begin. The current situation in South Sudan was predictable, and the situation in the Central African Republic has been brewing since the coup d'etatin March 2013. It has taken far too long for the international community to step up to respond to the scale of the needs in the Central African Republic. As mentioned earlier, the international humanitarian community has learned a lot from previous humanitarian disasters but we must continue to reflect on experience and refine our response in the future.

I should point out that, unfortunately in 2014, although I have focused Members' attention on three specific crisis situations, this is not the full picture. Ongoing challenges remain in the following areas: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Special Envoy Mary Robinson is at the present time; Mali, which French troops invaded recently to hopefully restore democratic structures; Somalia, which has been the subject of enormous conflict over a period and where Brigadier General Aherne is in charge of training the Somali soldiers; Sudan, where we had the break away of South Sudan; Haiti, which we heard all about and where great difficulty remains in restoring the structures - forgotten again - and where there is very little focus on the continuing needs of Haiti now that the cameras have left; Myanmar, which is coming to the fore at present; and the Philippines, with its recent disaster, and many other countries around the globe which result in millions of people in serious need requiring the ongoing attention of the international donor community. Ireland will continue to play our part its part.

Without delaying the House unduly I will deal quickly with some of the points raised. Senator Walsh referred to a political solution being the only answer, and we know the difficulties in that in terms of getting the United Nations Security Council to agree because of the differences between the major powers on the issue, the local difficulties as well as the other players, namely, Russia and the United States, who have tremendous interests in the area in not allowing the process. At least both Russia and the United States are represented at the talks and it is hoped that progress will be made.

I addressed the point about pledges not being made.

A number of Senators mentioned the issue of Irish troops. I understand Ireland will not be sending troops to the Central African Republic in the context of the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, mission from the European Union. I understand that mission involves 500 troops initially, leading on to 1,000 troops. We are not sending troops on the grounds that we are already fully stretched in terms of our commitments in overseas peacekeeping operations as well as resource limitations. We do not have the capacity to contribute members of the Defence Forces to that mission.

We have a strong representation in Lebanon, and Senator Quinn raised the issue of the security of those forces. There are always difficulties in those areas. The very first mission in 1960, to which he referred, was to the Congo where we lost 11 members of the security forces at the Niemba ambush. A number of members of the security forces were lost in Lebanon over the years also. We have had missions in Lebanon since 1978 playing a major role as a buffer between the Israelis on the one side and the various armed groups and militia operating in the area on the other. It is a tough and dangerous assignment but we have been doing it for a very long time. Our troops are very well respected and that continues to be the case with the present forces.

Regarding the CSDP mission going beyond the capital of Bangui, the idea is that the European mission will secure the capital and the airport, which is one of the only secure airports. There are approximately 100,000 refugees in the airport in Bangui but that will allow the African and the French forces to engage in the countryside, which is not possible at the present time because of the lack of resources. The European force will not move beyond the capital of Bangui but it will allow the other forces to move into the countryside to seek to secure that area and allow many of the people who fled into the bush to come out.

Senator Mullins mentioned the refugee placements, the negotiations and the political process in Geneva. The process is not just talks for the sake of talks. Real engagement is taking place and we would be hopeful that there will be real results. It is the only way to reach a conclusion.

The Senator also spoke of the need to broaden the donor base. That is very important. Such endeavours are continuing all the time. It is extremely difficult to get some of the major powers such as China and India to come into the donor community. The Senator saw the contribution China made to the Philippines. It gave an initial contribution of €100,000 and then raised it to €500,000. We would have provided a hundred times more than China did to its neighbour. There are difficulties in that respect in terms of the perception of some of the emerging countries who have resources and means to make the contributions that they should. That is a major part of what is required, especially now with donor fatigue.

Regarding what was said about the charitable organisations, I will not go into that discussion now. However, it is important we realise that the non-governmental organisations with which we engage, GOAL, Oxfam, Concern, Trócaire and so on, are fully audited by both themselves and by Irish Aid, and we have independent auditors. In the absence of any regulator, they audit themselves as that is the requirement. The are over-audited, if anything. The public can rest assured that the money that goes to those organisations is well accounted for. Any salary in any of those organisations above €75,000 must be reported to us in order that we know precisely what salaries people on the higher echelons of those organisation are in receipt of.