Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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209. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has raised at the United Nations or at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council the ongoing appalling slaughter of civilians in opposition-controlled areas in Syria, as a result of the ongoing aerial bombardment of the Assad regime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13750/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Ireland has repeatedly condemned the targeting of civilians by all parties in the course of the Syrian conflict at both the EU and the UN. As I said in my speech to the UN General Assembly in September 2014, “the flagrant violation of international law by all sides in the Syrian conflict must be confronted and referred to the International Criminal Court”. I reiterated this in my statement of 15 March 2015, to mark the 4th anniversary of the Syrian uprising. The reports from the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry make clear the utterly unacceptable use of violence by Assad regime forces against the Syrian people, including the use of barrel bombs and the illegal use of chemicals such as chlorine as armaments.I repeat Ireland’s call for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. There can be no impunity for those involved in war crimes in Syria.