Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the further measures being considered at EU and UN level to address the ongoing crisis in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17171/12]

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 15: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action he has taken in conjunction with his EU partners in relation to the humanitarian crisis in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17190/12]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 54: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the situation in Syria continues to be monitored by the international community with particular reference to on-going alleged human rights abuses; if his EU colleagues in conjunction with the UN or otherwise can offer persistent persuasion to bring about a resolution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17532/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 15 and 54 together.

I have on a number of occasions stated clearly my grave concerns at the deteriorating situation in Syria and condemned the unacceptable violence and repression which is now estimated to have claimed well over 8,000 lives since last March. I am particularly concerned about the urgent humanitarian needs of the civilian population in many areas of Syria.

Ireland and its EU partners have reacted to the violence in Syria with a series of robust economic, political and diplomatic measures to compel the Syrian regime to cease its appalling and unacceptable attacks on the Syrian people. Most recently, the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 23 March, which I attended, agreed forthright Conclusions which strongly condemn the violence by the Syrian regime, and urge immediate and full access for humanitarian organisations. I fully support these Conclusions, as well as the further sanctions adopted against members of President Assad's family and other senior regime figures and prominent Syrian businessmen and entities. Strong EU sanctions are an important way of putting additional pressure on the regime and I support the ongoing work to identify possible further EU restrictive measures.

Ireland and the EU have also been actively engaged at the UN to address the Syrian crisis. It is very welcome that the UN Security Council, in large part through the efforts of its EU members, was able last week to issue a strongly worded Presidential Statement expressing its gravest concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria and lending full support to the efforts of the UN-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan. The EU was also actively engaged in securing the adoption by a large majority of the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on 23 March on the human rights situation in Syria and which also extended the mandate of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry.

The humanitarian situation in Syria continues to worsen, with fighting and violence ongoing in several cities around the country and reportedly spreading to new and previously unaffected areas. Thousands of Syrians have also fled into neighbouring countries and there are already reports of over 36,000 registered refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Turkey and Iraq. Meanwhile, aid agencies remain unable to carry out more than limited food, health and hygiene support activities inside Syria due to a combination of insecurity and severe restrictions on humanitarian access. Ireland together with our EU partners, has been insisting on the need for full, immediate and unimpeded access to aid organisations to all areas of the country.

While UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos visited Damascus on 8 March and staff from the United Nations and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) were allowed to join a recent Syrian Government-led assessment mission, it remains essential that a robust and regular arrangement is put in place, which allows humanitarian agencies to evacuate the wounded and deliver desperately needed supplies.

Given the increasingly difficult situation on the ground, EU Member States have also been mobilising substantial funding to help aid agencies respond to the crisis. In this regard, I recently approved €500,000 in emergency funding for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN refugee agency, UNHCR and the World Food Programme (WFP). These funds will be used to provide both immediate relief within Syria and help to those forced to flee to neighbouring countries. Taken collectively, total EU funding and assistance currently stands at €26 million, including €10 million from the European Commission. Further assistance will be made available in light of the situation on the ground and the ability of aid agencies to access those in need.

Ireland, together with its EU partners, remains determined to continue to exert political and economic pressure on the Syrian regime to secure a ceasefire and humanitarian access. It is abundantly clear that the time for tokenistic efforts — such as the referendum on a draft new Constitution on 26 February which took place as the Syrian army carried out heavy weaponry bombardment of civilian areas — has long passed. In the immediate future, I hope that the second meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People in Istanbul on 1 April will make progress in bringing together the Syrian opposition under a common platform of values and aims. The Tánaiste spoke strongly in support of the need for this at the Foreign Affairs Council last week.

In this regard, I regret that the main internal opposition grouping, the SNCC (Syrian National Co-ordinating Committee, which has committed itself to achieving democratic freedoms in Syrian through peaceful means), has decided not to attend the meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People on 1 April. I hope that the NCC will reconsider. Furthermore, Ireland and the EU continue to call on all members of the Security Council, particularly Russia and China, to work together in an effort to stop the violence and to support fully the work of UN-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan.