Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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36. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps he is taking to ensure Ireland is playing an important role in trying to bring peace to Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31701/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Since the outset of the Syrian conflict, Ireland has consistently supported a Syrian-owned and Syrian-led political resolution to the conflict. The Syrian people must have the freedom to exercise their rights, including the democratic right to choose their own national leaders. These principles – set out clearly in Geneva in 2012 – have guided my interventions on Syria in Brussels and at the UN in New York, including my address to the General Assembly and in bilateral meetings with our international partners.

Ireland stands ready to play a positive role in any post-conflict peace effort. My EU colleagues and I spoke on 17 October with UN Special Envoy de Mistura, underlining our continuing and strong support for his efforts to stem the destruction of Syria and her people. The Taoiseach discussed the EU's response to the crisis at the European Council last week.

I continue to press for accountability, both to provide the victims with the hope of redress and in the hope that it will deter those involved from worse atrocities. This has been central to our interventions at the UN in New York and Geneva.

Ireland's response to the Syrian crisis and the plight of the Syrian people over the last five years has been unprecedented, providing more than €62 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria and the region to date. This support has been channelled through a range of partners, including NGOs, UN organisations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, who are best placed to respond, often by linking with local civil society organisations on the ground to get aid to hard-to-reach areas.

Together with our EU partners, we remain engaged through the EU in the International Syria Support Group. As I stated in my address last month to the UN, Ireland remains strongly committed to supporting the efforts of the UN to achieve both an end to the crisis and a sustainable peaceful resolution.