Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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47. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which he, along with EU and UN colleagues, continues to press for humanitarian assistance in the various conflict zones globally; if consideration continues to be given to the provision of safe or protective havens for civilian communities fleeing from war, genocide and terrorism; the extent to which peace keeping interventions are being considered in the most sensitive war zones; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36315/16]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Humanitarian assistance is a key foreign policy priority for Ireland. In 2015, Ireland’s humanitarian funding amounted to more than €142 million. This level of funding will be maintained in 2016, in response to unprecedented levels of humanitarian need.

Ireland also contributes to the European Commission’s humanitarian action outside the EU, which has an annual budget of approximately €1 billion.

Ireland’s UN partners lead the coordination of international appeals for humanitarian assistance, including through the Central Emergency Response Fund. Ireland is the eighth largest donor to this Fund, which has provided $4.5 billion in life-saving assistance to people affected by crises since 2005.

In May this year, the UN Secretary General convened the World Humanitarian Summit in an effort to address the current scale of global humanitarian crisis. At the Summit, I delivered Ireland’s National Statement, making a number of specific commitments to sustainable and effective humanitarian action, including through our support to conflict affected states and our approach to peacekeeping.

Providing safe havens within conflict zones is extremely difficult, especially where civilian protection is not prioritised. Safe havens require UN mandates and robustly-equipped peacekeeping personnel. Political will is lacking in many conflicts today, including from some on the UN Security Council. However, in other places, the UN is active and there are twice as many UN peacekeepers deployed today as 15 years ago. Ireland continues to play its part, with more than 570 personnel in UN mandated missions overseas. Ireland also continues to advocate strongly for respect for international humanitarian law and more effective UN response.