Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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324. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress in the meetings of the UN-facilitated constitutional committee in Geneva; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5410/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland supports all efforts towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Syria. Building on the 2012 Geneva Communiqué, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 (2015) established a framework for a political solution.

Under that framework, a UN facilitated but Syrian owned and led Constitutional Committee comprised of representatives of the Syrian Government, opposition and civil society has been meeting in Geneva with the goal of drafting a new Constitution ahead of free and fair elections. Five meetings of the Committee have taken place since the autumn of 2019.

While we welcome the meetings that have taken place to date, the pace of progress has not been sufficient to meet the expectations of the people of Syria.

Speaking to the Security Council on 20 January, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, noted the importance of the latest session commencing on 25 January and said that the time had come for the Committee to begin to move from preparing a constitutional reform to drafting one. He noted the need to unlock progress along the path of resolution 2254 and the dangers to Syria’s civilians, to Syria as a state, to its society, and to the region if this does not happen. I fully share this view.

Ireland calls on all parties to engage urgently and seriously with the work of the Special Envoy, and make sustained progress towards the end of the conflict.