Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of the increasingly uneven nature of fighting between the Assad regime and opposition forces, the alternative methods of intervention he will consider in order to help defend those oppressed by the Assad regime which is becoming increasingly more militarily sophisticated; the way he intends to address this imbalance through advocating non-military intervention while simultaneously calling for a complete arms embargo; if he has considered calling for an enforced no-fly zone as proposed by the French Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43761/12]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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As I said in my address to the UN General Assembly on 28 September, what is happening now in Syria is an affront to humanity. The violence is indiscriminate and on an appalling scale; and it is not confined to one side. I also said that what is needed above all to stop the violence is a strong UN Security Council resolution which will authorise targeted sanctions. This must include a comprehensive arms embargo, in order to halt the flow of arms to all sides in Syria and to compel those responsible for the violence which is violating the human rights of the Syrian people to stop their reprehensible actions. That is what the Syrian people want from us, and what they have a right to expect.

There also needs to be accountability for the serious human rights abuses which are being perpetrated in Syria. To prevent further atrocities and to save lives, we need to demonstrate clearly that these abuses will not go unpunished. Ireland fully supports, therefore, the calls which have been made for the situation in Syria to be referred by the Security Council to the International Criminal Court.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has warned about the risks of further militarization of the conflict in Syria, particularly in light of last week’s appalling attack on the Turkish border town of Akcakale. I do not believe that external intervention in any form at the moment will assist those suffering under Assad’s oppressive rule or necessarily bring closer that ceasefire and end to the conflict which is so urgently needed.

Similarly, I continue to have strong doubts and concerns about proposals to establish humanitarian corridors or safe zones within Syria, given the continuing divisions within the Security Council on Syria and the absence of any Security Council resolution authorising action on behalf of the international community. Such proposals would require the deployment of large-scale resources, including enforcement mechanisms for which there is no consensus at the moment. There is also the risk that ongoing humanitarian operations would be severely compromised by attempts to establish safe zones or humanitarian corridors.

The priority for now must be to lend strong support to the mediation efforts of the UN/Arab league Joint Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, in his mission to negotiate a ceasefire and to launch a political process facilitating the transition which is urgently needed in Syria. The international community must also concentrate on mobilising increased resources to deal with the worsening humanitarian situation within Syria and the region; some 1.5 million Syrians are internally displaced and an estimated 300,000 refugees have fled the violence to neighbouring countries. Ireland has already committed some €2.45 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the crisis.

Increased international pressure also needs to be applied to the Assad regime to end the violence and repression which it is inflicting on the Syrian people. The EU has been to the forefront in imposing targeted sanctions on the Assad regime and those who provide it with support. I anticipate that a further round of targeted EU sanctions may be agreed at the Foreign Affairs Council which I will attend next week in Luxembourg.