Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the reported use of chemical weapons near the Syrian northern city of Aleppo on 19 March; if he has any further information on the reported use of these chemical weapons; if this was discussed at the informal meeting of the EU’s Foreign Ministers in Dublin on 22 and 23 of March. [15517/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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On Wednesday 20 March Syria formally requested the UN Secretary General to undertake an investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Asal, near Aleppo, following an alleged attack on Tuesday 19 March. It is not the first time that allegations of chemical weapons use have been made in the current Syrian conflict. Reports concerning the use of a known chemical weapon appeared in December 2012 but have not been confirmed or independently investigated. We do not, as of yet, have any information relating to the reports of an alleged attack on 19 March. UN Secretary General Ban announced on 21 March that he had agreed to undertake the investigation requested by the Syrian authorities. The investigation team will include personnel from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the World Health Organisation. The Director General of the OPCW indicated last Thursday that he had agreed to the request from the UN to provide assistance to the investigation, as required by the Chemical Weapons Convention in the case of allegations of use by a non-State Party.

The mandate for the investigation will be finalised in the coming days. Ireland believes that any investigation should consider all instances of alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria and I can assure the Deputy that we will support as comprehensive a mandate as possible.

In addition, reference was made to this issue during a discussion of the situation in Syria which took place at the informal meeting of Foreign Ministers in Dublin on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 March. The Deputy will be aware that the European Union has previously expressed serious concern at the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria and that it has called on Syria never to use such weapons under any circumstances and to store its stockpile securely pending independently verified destruction.

Syria is bound by the terms of the 1925 Geneva Protocol and by customary international law. Any confirmed use of chemical weapons by it would therefore be a breach of its obligations. However, Syria is not State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which prohibits the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons and obliges States Parties to destroy any stockpiles they may have in accordance with a strict verification mechanism. Notwithstanding Syria’s non-adherence to the Convention, the reported use of these weapons in Syria will need to be addressed at the forthcoming Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which will take place in The Hague from 8 to 19 April.