Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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472. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if consideration has been given at EU level to the proposal to create a no-fly zone in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49358/14]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Resolution of the Syrian crisis remains a top priority for Ireland and its EU partners. UN Special Envoy Staffan di Mistura discussed measures to address the acute security and humanitarian situation, as well as possible steps to move towards a political process, with Foreign Ministers in Brussels for a meeting of the December 2014 Foreign Affairs Council. The EU is the main donor towards humanitarian relief in Syria, providing a total of €3Bn since the outset of the conflict. Ireland has contributed over €28M.

Any decision on the possible establishment of a no-fly zone in Syria is a matter which falls to the UN Security Council. Ireland has consistently supported greater engagement by the Security Council on tackling the crisis in Syria and co-sponsored a recent resolution on referral of the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court earlier this year.

Regrettably, the Security Council has in recent years repeatedly failed to agree on effective measures to tackle the political and security situation in Syria, with the repeated vetoes on proposed action by permanent members of the Council. There is little prospect that any proposal for such a resolution will be approved by the Council at this time.