Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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620. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the involvement of the military of the Russian Federation in Syria. [34524/15]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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621. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 1171 of 22 September 2015, which stated that foreign military action in Iraq had support of the Iraqi Government, if he supports the military actions of Russia in Syria, given that Russia has the approval of the Bashar al-Assad Syrian Government. [34525/15]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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622. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 1171 of 22 September 2015, if he supports the military intervention of other states in Syria or Iraq. [34526/15]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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623. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 1171 of 22 September 2015, if he supports the military intervention of certain other states into Syria or Iraq and not that of others. [34527/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 620 to 623, inclusive, together.

Ireland fully supports the removal of the terrorist threat posed by the ISIS group, consistent with international law. Airstrikes have been conducted against ISIS in Iraq and Syria for a number of months. It is for individual States to determine in what way they might best contribute to the concerted international effort underway to tackle the threat posed by ISIS and other fundamentalist jihadists. In my reply of 22 September I stated that I understand that the states involved in military action against ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria are acting at the request of the Iraqi government in the exercise of its inherent right to individual or collective self-defence pending action by the Security Council to restore international peace and security as recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and as notified by the US to the UN Secretary General on 23 September 2014. I am aware of recent media reports of airstrikes by Russian forces against towns located north of the city of Homs on 30 September 2015. I am not in possession of information other than that already contained in reports which are publicly available. These latest events add further complexity to the already tragic situation of the Syrian people.

Ireland, together with its EU partners, made clear in the EU statement of 4 June 2014 that we do not accept the legitimacy of the 3 June Presidential elections held in Syria. These were held under a flawed electoral law which imposed identification requirements that deprived most Syrians living in areas under opposition control of the ability to cast their vote. The law also prevented exiled opposition candidates from standing against President Assad, and blocked access to alternative sources of campaign information.

These facts call into question the legitimacy of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime or its authority to invite military support from other States.

It is also worth recalling that Ireland has co-sponsored a resolution called on the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court and has repeatedly expressed its support for the work of the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry which has made clear that the Assad regime is responsible for the overwhelming majority of attacks against civilians in Syria.