Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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422. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the communication he has had with other foreign Ministers or Governments about the savage chemical attack in Syria in recent days; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18323/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I was horrified to learn of the apparent chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun last week which killed scores of civilians and seriously injured many more. The attack was simply barbaric, and my thoughts are with the victims and their families. I condemn unreservedly the attack and those responsible.

My EU colleagues and I have denounced the attack, both individually and as a group.

My Department and I have remained in constant contact with our EU counterparts over the past week. We have also had engagement with many other governments at official level through our network of missions abroad.

Just before this attack occurred, I had the opportunity to discuss the overall situation in Syria in person with EU Foreign Ministers at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday of last week. In our conclusions we condemned the continued widespread abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law by all parties, especially the Syrian regime. We also agreed the new EU Strategy for Syria, and reiterated our position that there can be no support for reconstruction until a comprehensive, genuine and inclusive political transition, owned by the Syrian people, is firmly under way.

Following the apparent chemical attacks in Khan Sheikoun on Tuesday, we also issued joint statement condemning the attack in the strongest terms.

Minister of State McHugh attended the Conference on supporting the future of Syria and the Region in Brussels last Wednesday at which he had the opportunity to discuss the situation in Syria in general and the attack in Khan Sheikoun in particular with several of his counterparts from around the world.

At this conference Ireland pledged an additional €25million in humanitarian assistance for Syria and the neighbouring refugee hosting countries in 2017. Ireland has already contributed €76.5 million to the humanitarian effort in Syria. This is Irish Aid’s largest response to a single crisis in recent years, which is indicative of the level of priority we attach to this issue.

In parallel, Ireland continues to call for full accountability for full legal accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria. In December, Ireland worked with a group of like-minded countries to successfully press for the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly to establish an International Impartial and Independent Mechanism to investigate and prosecute these most serious crimes in Syria. We also continue to support Security Council referral of the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

Ireland fully supports the UN-led Geneva peace process and the work of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and remains in constant contact with our UN partners to support the search for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.