Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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646. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the organisations to which the Government provided funding in Syria, with particular reference to the oversight and scrutiny which took place regarding the destination of these funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20158/17]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Since 2012, Ireland has provided more than €76 million in assistance for the humanitarian crisis as a result of the devastating conflict in Syria. At the Supporting Syria and the Regionhigh-level conference in Brussels last month, I pledged that Ireland would provide at least a further €25 million in 2017.

Ireland’s funding is channelled through a range of partners who are best placed to respond to people’s urgent needs on the ground, both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries hosting large numbers of refugees. These partners include both the UN and International Red Cross and Red Crescent agencies and NGO partners, who provide humanitarian supplies and urgently-needed health, education, water and sanitation services, as well as protection for children and vulnerable families.

We decide on the allocation of funds on the basis of categorisation of needs and assessment of which partners are best placed with capacity to respond and access to those in need. Any partner Irish Aid works with in a high risk environment such as Syria is subject to careful systems assessment and review. All grants are subject to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform provisions on the Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds. All recipients of public funds are required to demonstrate transparency, accountability, and effective and efficient use of funds.

A rigorous monitoring approach is applied with all grants, including reviews of annual performance reports and audited accounts, annual bilateral meetings with partners, and field-level monitoring visits, where possible. In addition, Ireland regularly participates in international donor coordination mechanisms that monitor and oversee the work of our UN and Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.

I recently visited Jordan and Lebanon to see at first-hand how Ireland’s assistance is helping refugees affected by the crisis to meet their daily needs. Officials from my Department have also recently travelled to the region to monitor funding provided to NGO and Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.