Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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160. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the situation regarding his recent announcement regarding the allocation to refugees in Turkey, to outline the total such payments made in connection with the war in Syria in 2012 /13; the budget head they came under; if they were supplementary or planned amounts; and the way he explains such out payments to Irish people who see the problems here as priority for funding. [18853/13]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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There are currently 4 million people in desperate need of the basic means of survival. Over 2 million Syrians are displaced inside the country, their homes and communities destroyed and uninhabitable. More than 1.3 million people are now taking refuge in neighbouring countries after fleeing the hostilities. Despite serious risks and constraints on their operations, humanitarian workers are entering into these Syrian communities each day to reach the most vulnerable with life-saving assistance.

Children have been particularly affected by the crisis. It is estimated that some 2 million children inside Syria are in need of immediate assistance, with many requiring medical attention and psychosocial support. More than 4,000 schools have been destroyed or are no longer operational, and hundreds of thousands of children are being denied a basic education. One out of every two refugees from the conflict is a child.

When I visited al-Zaatari refugee camp on the Syria-Jordan border last August, all the refugees I spoke to were clear that eland’s assistance was greatly needed. Although Syria’s neighbours, including Jordan, were making a major effort to support Syrians affected by the crisis, they were already under strain because of the scale of the challenge and the steady escalation of needs. Earlier this month, the Tánaiste visited refugee camps in southern Turkey and witnessed the major humanitarian effort underway there to support Syrian refugees. This visit further confirmed our belief that the international community has a duty to move immediately to help protect the lives and dignity of the beleaguered Syrian population. eland has responded generously to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and neighbouring countries. To date, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Government has provided over €8.15 million in humanitarian assistance. This has been channelled through long-standing and reputable partners such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). They have a demonstrated track record of effective humanitarian response in Syria, with strong strategies for targeting and delivery and robust systems for monitoring and accountability.

The Government’s humanitarian support is allocated through the Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Fund managed by ish Aid. The specific objective of this fund is to save and protect lives in acute crisis situations on the basis of independently assessed humanitarian needs. It is designed to finance activities that provide protection for civilians, the delivery of clean safe water, sanitation services, food, shelter, healthcare, or other forms of assistance necessary to sustain life in natural or manmade disaster situations.

I believe that the ish people strongly support the provision of much-needed humanitarian support for people whose lives and livelihoods are being destroyed by the conflict in Syria. We are continuing to monitor the situation in the region in order to assess the most effective way in which eland can continue to contribute to relief of suffering among the civilian population.