Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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74. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the aid that is being allocated to the Syrian crisis; his plans for escalation of this aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25499/17]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Since 2012, Ireland has provided €76.5 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the Syria crisis. This represents Ireland’s single largest response ever to a humanitarian crisis. Our funding has supported those in need within Syria as well as Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. We work with UN and Red Cross partners, and as well as NGO partners, to ensure that our funding reaches the most vulnerable. These partners provide humanitarian supplies and urgently-needed health, education, water and sanitation services, as well as implementing measures to protect women, children and vulnerable families.

Through our annual contributions to EU Institutions, Ireland also supports the EU’s humanitarian response in Syria.

At the pledging conference for the Syria crisis in Brussels in April, I committed to providing at least €25 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria in 2017. This pledge is in line with Ireland's expenditure on this crisis in 2016, when we exceeded our pledge of €20m.

We have already begun to fulfil our 2017 pledge, having provided funding to the UN Humanitarian Country Based Pooled Funds in Jordan and Lebanon in February. We are currently preparing an additional disbursement to partners in the region.

The Government remains strongly committed to supporting those affected by the Syria crisis. I had the opportunity to visit Lebanon and Jordan in February where I met with Syrian refugees who are benefitting from Ireland’s humanitarian assistance. I witnessed first-hand the immense needs within the region and also the impact of the support that Ireland is providing. We will continue to provide that support and to work with our international partners in the search for a political solution to the crisis.