Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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68. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will address a matter (details supplied) raised in correspondence. [18641/18]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The crisis in Syria remains of utmost concern to Ireland. The conflict, which is now in its eighth year, has cost up to 500,000 lives. Over 13 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including close to 3 million people trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas. Over 6 million people are displaced internally, and a further 5.5 million have fled to neighbouring countries and the wider region. There have been repeated breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law. There have been numerous instances of denial and diversion of humanitarian aid, the use of medieval ‘starve or surrender’ siege tactics and the use of chemical weapons. I am aware of the correspondence to which the Deputy refers and I fully concur with the sentiment of concern expressed by the petitioners about this appalling situation.

Ireland and the EU fully support the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to bring about an end to the conflict. The EU provides direct assistance to the UN-led Geneva peace talks and has launched, in coordination with the UN, an initiative to identify common political ground with key actors from the region. We also support a broad range of measures to ensure full legal accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria. Ireland has been a strong and consistent donor to the humanitarian response to the crisis.

I attended the Second Brussels Conference “Supporting Syria and the Region” on the 24th of April. I met with key EU and UN humanitarian and political partners - including EU Commissioner Christos Stylianides and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi - to discuss further humanitarian assistance and highlight our commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

At the conference, Ireland reiterated its support for the UN-led efforts to bring about a resolution of the conflict. Ireland also called on the international community, particularly those with influence on the parties to the conflict, to redouble efforts to ensure a ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access. Ireland condemned the repeated breaches of international law which have taken place in Syria, and called for full legal accountability for all war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly the use of chemical weapons.

Ireland also pledged a further €25 million in humanitarian support in 2018 - maintaining the same level of assistance as provided last year. This brings Ireland’s support since 2012 to over €100 million – our largest ever response to a single crisis.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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69. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the details of Ireland's involvement in contributing to the humanitarian effort in Syria. [18643/18]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Since 2012, Ireland has provided over €108 million in response to the Syria crisis. This represents Ireland’s largest ever engagement with a humanitarian crisis.

Our funding provides supports to those in need inside Syria as well as Syrian refugees and vulnerable host communities in the region. We work with UN, Red Cross and 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 membership of the EU, Ireland also supports the EU’s humanitarian response in Syria. The EU and its member states are the single biggest donor to the Syria crisis having mobilised over €10.6 billion in humanitarian, stabilisation and resilience assistance since 2012.

In addition, through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), to which Ireland is the eighth largest donor, a total of over $100m has been provided to Syria.

At the recent Second Brussels Conference "Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region" on the 24-25 April, Ireland pledged €25 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis for 2018 and made a commitment to multi-annual support beyond 2018. We have begun to fulfil our 2018 pledge, having provided funding of over €15 million to UN and Red Cross partners for response inside Syria and in the broader region. We are currently preparing an additional disbursement to NGO partners, and funding to other humanitarian partners is also under consideration.

The Government remains strongly committed to supporting those affected by the Syria crisis. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide funding where needs are greatest. We will also continue to advocate within the EU and UN for a political solution to the crisis.