Topical Issue Debate

Services for People with Disabilities

Deputy Olivia Mitchell

I thank the Minister of the State for taking this debate. I wish to raise two issues regarding disability services. I acknowledge the Government wants to protect them but the overall reduction in the budget allocation for these services is 3.7%, 2% of which is supposed to be achieved through efficiencies. I am in favour of efficiencies and I accept that the headline salaries paid to the chief executive officers of so-called not-for-profit organisations are indefensible. However, only a few service providers offer such salaries. Most of the providers have pared back their costs as far as they can in the past four years of cutbacks. It is inevitable that front-line services will be impacted on, if not devastated.

One such organisation with which I am familiar is Cheeverstown. Its budget for 2012 has been reduced by €1.5 million while last year it was reduced by €700,000. The administrators are working within the confines of the recruitment ban, increments payable to all staff under the Croke Park agreement and an exceptional pensions bill. The organisation will lose three of their four social workers to early retirement. One of them at least will have to be replaced even though there is no budget for that position and Cheeverstown has to use the probation service to paint buildings. They have no flexibility to achieve efficiencies. The only way the new budget can be implemented is by cutting back on services. Due to the cutbacks, for example, respite services have been reduced by 40% and they probably will be terminated altogether this year. The Minister of State can imagine the impact this will have not only the disabled clients themselves but on their families who depend on respite care. All disabled people and service providers cannot be penalised because of high salaries paid to a few chief executive officers. For instance, hospitals are not penalised because consultants have high salaries, even though there is room for inefficiencies in this sector more than in the disability sector.

The most urgent issue is the plight of disabled school leavers this year. Normally, special provision is made for them but the service is being abolished. No provision will be made for the 650 school leavers this year. A number of the high performing clients will enter the education sector but those who are most handicapped depend on the health service and they will have no access to services. If they are forgotten by the health service, they will be forgotten by all of society, which is unacceptable.

There was a misunderstanding about what was agreed between the HSE and service providers, which was regrettable, but no matter where the blame for this lies, it does not lie with 18 year old severely disabled children. I cannot stand by while they and their families pay the price for this mistake. If the Government decided to cut all third level education, there would be a revolution and we would not even consider it and, therefore, I do not know why we consider it for people who need our help most. I can understand and accept cutbacks in the provision of transport, meals and so on. Everybody understands we are in difficulty but condemning a cohort of children to lifelong incarceration without services from next summer is indefensible and unacceptable. Many of these children are so disabled that they will not leave home again if they are abandoned now by the State.

I plead with the Minister of State in conjunction with her senior ministerial colleague to examine the overall health budget and to find relief within it for this cohort of children. Savings must be achievable in the overall health budget. The Minister does not have to single out this most disadvantaged group.

Deputy Minister of State at the Department of Health ( Róisín Shortall)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive, HSE, is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including disability services. The HSE, through its occupational guidance service, works with schools, service providers, service users and families to identify the needs of young people with disabilities who are due to complete their second level education. This process requires flexibility from disability service providers and the maximisation of additional capacity from within existing resources. Some referrals are appropriate for rehabilitative training programmes and others are suitable for other disability and mainstream services.

Where appropriate, the occupational guidance officer will refer and support the individual to access FÁS services in line with the operational protocols agreed between the HSE and FÁS at national level. Referrals are also made to other services appropriate to the individual. The aim is to address the needs of individuals in one or more of the following ways: health funded rehabilitative training; health funded day services; FÁS funded rehabilitative training; FÁS funded vocational training; and approval to extend education placement for a specified time. The plan for each individual is dependent on final decisions by service users where more than one service model may be considered; approval, if requested, to extend current educational placements; and capacity of providers to make best use of available resources.

The HSE monitors the outcome of this process to ensure that, in as far as possible, the needs of each individual young person with a disability leaving school are addressed. The demand for services for school leavers continues to grow. The planning process is under way to ensure all school leavers requiring services are considered and prioritised. The HSE expects that approximately 600 school leavers will require services in 2012. Other health funded day services are provided from the range of general day services provision for adults with disability. While the executive makes every effort to provide day services to people over 18 on leaving school, this always has been dependent on the availability and location of appropriate places coupled with the needs of the individual school leaver.

In the current year, the disability services will be required to cater for demographic pressures such as new services for school leavers and emergency residential placements, from within their existing budgets. Meeting the needs of all school leavers with disabilities will be challenging. However, both the voluntary sector and the HSE are committed to the best use of available resources in a creative and flexible manner to be as responsive as possible to the needs that present. There is evidence that an accelerated move towards a new model of individualised, person-centred service provision in the community can help to achieve efficiencies, particularly relating to services for those with mild or moderate intellectual disability.

The emerging departmental policy direction - the value for money and policy review, coupled with recommendations from HSE national working groups on key service areas, including the forthcoming review of HSE funded adult day services, emphasise the need for a new model of service provision that, if agreed by Government, will further the independence of people with disabilities in an efficient and cost effective manner. The adult day services review will be published in the coming weeks and will contain recommendations that will guide the reconfiguration and modernisation of services in this area. I regret to say it is not an option to seek additional funding. There are huge pressures on all our public services and for that reason a much higher level of flexibility and creativity is required. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

Deputy Olivia Mitchell

I am a little surprised to hear the planning process is under way to ensure the needs of school leavers will be considered and prioritised when one cannot prioritise something if no funding is being provided for it. This is the first time ever there is no provision for such school leavers. I understand the need for efficiencies and savings and I have no problems with the 2% savings, but to use disabled people to drive efficiencies in organisations is not fair. It not the job of the disabled to drive efficiencies; it is the job of the Minister and the HSE to ensure there are efficiencies.

The service provider are now being asked to provide services for additional people out of funding that is now 14% less then it was a few years ago. It is not possible to effect the kind of efficiencies that will ensure there is no reduction in front line services. I am talking specifically about the school leavers. If there is no provision, there is no service. I am not seeking the allocation of additional funding into the health service but that there must a reallocation of funding within the overall €14 billion. In that €14,000 million surely it is possible to find even half of the meagre sum of €10 million which was allocated last year. If they even got €5 million, at least it would ensure that those children who are leaving school would get out of the house sometime over the rest of their lives.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

It is not a case of using disabled people to drive efficiencies. In the case of disability services, the plan provides for a 3.7% reduction in budgets but it makes it clear that there is scope for achieving a 2% saving on efficiencies, which brings it down to a 1.7% reduction. In the current climate where everybody is under pressure in terms of budgets and is required to reduce their budgets, cut down on overheads and achieve efficiencies, I think that is a reasonable figure. We want to ensure that people with disabilities do not take the hit in this regard. We want to achieve savings through reducing overheads, adopting a better approach to the provision of services and a more realistic view in regard to salaries in this area and the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, is determined to achieve those efficiencies but not at a cost to the individuals concerned who are dependent on the services. That is why this report is being brought forward and why there will shortly be recommendations on new models of care, which are more efficient and more responsive in terms of the people who need those services.

Ambulance Service

Deputy Barry Cowen

In seeking to discuss the issue of the Offaly ambulance service, I want to focus particularly on Edenderry ambulance service, where the situation is causing grave concern and worry among staff and residents in the general locality and region. Currently the staffing of the service comprises five full-time staff with five other staff available to cover at any time. Up to November last year over a period of almost two years, the service carried out 650 call-outs covering an area of north Offaly, parts of Kildare and Meath. It is particularly important to have this service and we want to have a quality service there given its rural nature.

The ambulance bay was sought after a long number of years. Following numerous representations and lobbying, the bay was put in place about two years ago. Accommodation was provided in what used to be the matron's living quarters in Ofalia House, a community nursing unit in Edenderry, on the future of which we also seek clarification, considering the publication of the HSE Dublin-north Leinster region report this week, which refers to a €20 million cut across the regional community nursing care service. The HSE had given a commitment in regard to facilities in Tullamore, Edenderry and Birr and I hope there will be consistency in that respect in the coming year despite the talk of cutbacks.

In regard to this issue, the facilities consist of one room, a storage unit and one toilet to be used by male and female ambulance staff. The facilities are not adequate. Another example of their inadequacy is that after a call-out when an ambulance has to be cleaned, it must be transported to Tullamore hospital, which leaves north Offaly and parts of Meath and Kildare without an ambulance service. This means lives are being put at risk whenever an ambulance needs to be cleaned. The temporary accommodation for the ambulance service is totally unacceptable and it does not meet the standards required. Permanent facilities are necessary.

The Minister, the HSE and the local authorities have been investigating the possibilities of co-sharing of facilities over a period of time. In my most recent correspondence with the Minister, to be fair to him, he asked that I consult the HSE and the local authority with a view to examining if a facility at the new fire station, built three years ago, could be an option, and there could be a sharing of facilities in the interests of cost-savings but, unfortunately, having consulted the local authority that can no longer be considered an option. It may have been the ideal location but when that fire station was built three years ago the local authority consulted the HSE and inquired if it had any wish to be part of or to take up an offer to locate a facility there and it was declined. It is now deemed that option is unsuitable for a full-time ambulance service and a part-time fire service.

The onus of responsibility now falls back on the Minister and we want him to maintain this full-time facility but we want him to take action to make sure the facility and service that is offered and provided is adequate, meets the standards required and meets the wishes of the locality and regions of north Offaly, Meath and Kildare. To that extent, I ask the Minister to seek to either extend the area within Ofalia House for the use of the ambulance service or to examine the possibility of leasing a suitable vacant unit, of which there are plenty I am sure in the vicinity of Edenderry town.

I ask the Minister of State to respond to this matter. Having considered the Minister's response and all the parties having explored the potential in his response, unfortunately, the option cannot be progressed and the onus of responsibility now falls on the Minister and Government to put this situation right.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Reilly.

The national ambulance service provides pre-hospital emergency care and emergency transport to the health service. Previously, each health board ran its own ambulance service, with little co-ordination of activities across board boundaries and no clear national leadership on pre-hospital care within the health service. However, the national ambulance service works nationally and regionally, not locally.

It deploys resources on a dynamic basis to meet surges in demand and ensure optimal spatial application of emergency cover. Dynamic deployment of emergency services ensures the nearest appropriate resource is mobilised to the location of any incident. Dynamic delivery, with resources moved around according to predicted demand, based on need and demand patterns, is more flexible and responsive, with better response times for patients and a better service.

The NAS is committed to the provision of pre-hospital emergency services in Offaly, Westmeath, Laois and Longford. There is a staff complement of 160, with seven ambulance stations and 17 emergency ambulances. A command and control centre operates on a 24-hour basis. Following a statistical and spatial analysis of the region in January 2011, the NAS made an evidence-based decision to decentralise resources to improve services in the area. This clearly demonstrates the flexibility of public services to respond to local need. Dynamic deployment in the Offaly and Laois areas is achieved by initial dispatch of crews from Birr, Tullamore, Edenderry and Portlaoise and dynamic dispatch of resources from surrounding stations, namely, Mullingar, Athlone, Tullamore, Naas, Maynooth or Navan. Supporting this deployment model is an advanced medical priority dispatch system in control centres, which uses internationally recognised protocols and standards to ensure an immediate and appropriate response. To provide a high quality ambulance service, the NAS operates with a range of statutory and voluntary and community organisations. It has co-responder systems in place with the Laois and Offaly fire and rescue services and 32 community first responder schemes to provide first responder assistance in an emergency prior to the arrival of the NAS. Last year, the NAS responded to approximately 650 emergency calls in the Offaly area. The monthly percentages of category 1 "Echo" emergency calls responded to within a target timeframe of less than seven minutes and 59 seconds were some of the highest in the country in ten of the 12 months of 2011.

The Deputy raised the issue of ambulance facilities in Offaly. I am aware that, as in any part of our health service, there are particular locations where the infrastructure may not be appropriate to the development of a modern service, and the NAS is moving to remedy this where possible. However, in the current situation, it is clear that expectations must be adjusted and existing State capital assets must be fully optimised. In particular, local fire service facilities offer an opportunity to provide solutions to inadequate or doubled-up facilities, in Offaly and elsewhere, where such solutions are feasible in maintaining and improving ambulance services. The NAS will continue to engage with local authorities on this issue in order to secure the future of services in Offaly and other places.

The NAS has undergone significant change to ensure quality, safety and value for money. In line with other clinical areas, this process is ongoing as clinical needs and standards develop. I believe these developments are in the best interests of patients and that they are a key part of the Government's work to ensure high quality emergency care. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

Deputy Barry Cowen

I thank the Minister of State for her response. However, it raises more questions. I do not wish to be parochial with regard to this issue; I recognise the fact that we must spread across a region. I do recognise that the base in Edenderry represents a region that covers not only north Offaly but also parts of Kildare and Meath. The Minister of State mentioned the potential for doubling up of facilities. As I said in my initial speech, this is something that has been explored to the nth degree in recent times with regard to the new fire station that was built three years ago in Edenderry. Even during the initial phase of the design of that fire service, the HSE was asked by the local authority if it wished to avail of a facility within that complex, but it declined the offer, which left the local authority with no option but to design it to meet its own demands, which was that of a part-time fire service with two bays. That looks after the local authority's requirements. It cannot, unfortunately, provide the necessary accommodation or facilities to suit the ambulance service. Thus, the responsibility falls firmly back on the HSE. It must recognise, as I do and as the locality does, that the facilities and services within the complex in which they now operate are not suitable or practical and cannot meet the standards required. The staff cannot continue to be expected to work in these conditions. Not only is it detrimental to their daily working lives, it also poses a threat to the general population which puts lives at risk. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister to attack this issue urgently in order to provide either improved facilities at the present location or a new facility that can be accommodated at very reasonable cost.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

As with the last issue, it is important to remind Members, lest they have forgotten, of the extremely difficult financial circumstances in which we are operating. I am not going to go into the reasons for that; I am sure Deputy Cowen would not want me to do so. The fact is that €750 million has been taken out of the health budget this year because of our extreme difficulties. That poses enormous challenges within the health service in terms of maintaining an acceptable level of service where demand for services is growing. That is the climate in which people are trying to function and, in fairness, staff are doing their utmost to plug the holes left by a lack of funding.

As the Deputy has said, it is accepted that the current facilities are temporary and are not suitable, although it is recognised that the staff are nonetheless providing an excellent level of service in circumstances that are less than optimal. There have been discussions with the fire service, and the NAS is of the view that the proposal it has advanced has potential. It believes it is possible to accommodate the ambulance service within the fire station, and it has made proposals in this regard which are under consideration at the moment. It is not realistic to think in terms of building a new centre at this point, but the NAS has put forward a proposal and it believes it is possible to reach agreement on a shared arrangement with the fire service.

Medical Cards

Deputy Tom Hayes

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important topic for debate.

Medical cards have dominated much of the debate in recent months in this House, but today I want to talk about a specific group of applicants. In recent weeks, my office has seen an increasing number of cancer patients who have been waiting for extended periods for their medical card applications to be processed. None of us wants those diagnosed with cancer to be put under any undue stress waiting for a medical card. The reason I brought this to the attention of the Minister of State today is that I want to ask her to consider fast-tracking medical card applications for cancer patients and issuing medical cards automatically to those who are terminally ill. Both of these suggestions should be implemented through a dedicated unit within the medical card section of the Department. As the Minister of State is well aware, this call has been made by many on the front line in recent years. I have been in touch with people such as social workers who deal with patients on a daily basis, and some of the stories I have heard are genuinely upsetting, such as patients who received their medical cards after passing away or had to go without wigs following their chemotherapy treatment because they simply could not afford to purchase them on their own. No Member of the House, including the Minister of State, wishes to hear stories such as this, but that is the reality.

Prior to the centralisation of the application process, emphasis was put on fast-tracking applications from cancer patients. Staff at local level did this well and effectively, and it took many people out of difficulty. However, that is no longer the case. To make the problem worse, neither patients nor their social workers can speak personally to anybody, thus increasing the uncertainty. Although some staff in the HSE try to help over the telephone, people are very dissatisfied with the current service.

I urge the Minister of State to give serious consideration to these two categories of patients. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, it is a point in their lives when they are under more stress and pressure than ever. I have spoken to the Minister of State personally about this issue and know she understands the difficulties people are experiencing. It would be a huge step forward if she could do something for them.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I, too, am very dissatisfied at the level of service being provided for the public by the HSE in respect of medical cards, especially renewals. I am engaging on an almost daily basis with the HSE to get to grips with the problem. The indications are that as a result of changes made in recent weeks, there is an improvement, but there is still some way to go. What has been happening in recent months is unacceptable and I hope it will come to an end shortly.

As the Deputy is aware, medical cards are provided for persons who, under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, are in the opinion of the HSE unable without undue hardship to arrange general practitioner, GP, services and other health services for themselves and their dependants. The assessment for a medical card is, therefore, determined primarily by reference to the means, including income and expenditure, of the applicant and his or her partner and dependants. Under the legislation, there is no automatic entitlement to a medical card for persons with a specific illness such as cancer. There is, however, a provision for discretion for the HSE to grant a medical card in cases of "undue hardship" in which the income guidelines are exceeded. The HSE recently set up a clinical panel to assist in the processing of applications for discretionary medical cards where there are difficult personal circumstances.

With regard to the fast-tracking of medical card applications for certain categories, it is important to point out that the HSE already has a system in place for the provision of emergency medical cards for patients who are terminally ill or seriously ill and in urgent need of medical care that they cannot afford. Emergency medical cards are issued within 24 hours of receipt of the required patient details and the letter of confirmation of the condition from a doctor or a medical consultant. This can be initiated through the local health office by the office manager who has access to a dedicated fax and e-mail contact within the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS. As a result, there are no plans to establish a new unit.

While stressing that these arrangements are for cases of emergency only, it is necessary to better publicise these arrangements and I have asked the HSE to put together an information pack on these and other procedures for the public, health care professionals and Members of the Oireachtas in order that emergency cases can be dealt with properly and in good time. I am not sure why social workers in the local offices would not be aware of this facility. They certainly should be.

With the exception of terminally ill patients, the HSE issues all emergency medical cards on the basis that the patient is eligible for a medical card on the basis of means or undue hardship and that the applicant will follow up with a full application within a number of weeks of receiving the emergency card. As a result, emergency medical cards are issued to a named individual, with a limited eligibility period of six months. The arrangement is slightly different for persons with a terminal illness. Once the terminal illness is verified, patients are given an emergency medical card for six months. Given the nature and urgency of the issue, the HSE has appropriate escalation routes to ensure the person receives the medical card as quickly as possible.

If there are specific details in the case of patients with a terminal illness, it is important that they be brought to our attention. As I said, there is a facility in place to deal with this issue, although it is not sufficiently well known. I am insistent on there being a very fast turnaround in such circumstances.

Deputy Tom Hayes

I thank the Minister of State who is committed to trying to help people who are in difficulty and to reforming the medical card system. However, it must be brought home to officials in the Department that whatever system they have in place, it is still not working. That is the issue I am raising. When an oncologist says a person has cancer, there should be a facility whereby the person receives a medical card immediately - that does mean in days or weeks but within 24 hours. As the Minister of State's heart is in the right place on the matter, I will not press her on it. I genuinely believe she will solve the problem, but I hope it is solved sooner rather than later. I urge her to continue her good work on the issue.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

There is a facility in place for cases in which a person has a terminal illness. When such applications are brought to the attention of the local health office, there will be a very fast turnaround. If there is an issue with someone not being aware of this service, we will deal with it by publicising it in a more effective way. There is a system in place and I want to be informed if it is not working properly.

Foreign Conflicts

Deputy Simon Harris

I am pleased to have the opportunity, with Deputy Alex White, to raise this important matter, although I am upset that it must be raised. It concerns the widespread and appalling brutality in Syria. Members will be aware of the reports of government forces in Syria firing mortar rounds and rockets and using heavy weaponry in civilian neighbourhoods. The United Nations has found that the orders for these attacks are coming from what it has determined to be the highest levels of the army and government officials. In a report to the UN Human Rights Council it states it has received credible and consistent evidence identifying both high and mid-ranking members of the armed forces who are ordering their subordinates to shoot at unarmed protesters, kill soldiers who refuse to obey such orders, arrest people without cause, mistreat detained persons and attack civilian neighbourhoods with indiscriminate tank and machine gun fire. So far, thousands have died.

Worryingly, Doctors Without Borders has issued a statement which refers to wounded patients and doctors being pursued. It states they are risking torture and arrest at the hands of the security service. Most of the wounded are no longer going to public hospitals. Civilians are left dying on the street because they cannot be transported to safety. Medical treatment must take place in secret and in makeshift and unsanitary operating theatres.

This will appal any right thinking person in the developed world. The frustration that many others and I feel is caused by the powerlessness of the international community to come to the aid of the people of Syria who are doing nothing more than peacefully seeking the liberty and freedom we enjoy in this country. The question for the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is at what point do we stand up and shout stop. At what point does the developed world say enough is enough? There is also the issue of the UN Security Council being in a position of stalemate, which is obviously a concern. I look forward to hearing the Minister's reply.

Deputy Alex White

The answer to the question posed by Deputy Harris is "Now". This is the point at which the international community must say, "Stop". Over 6,000 people have died in Syria since this time last year, an extraordinary and dreadful fact. We have seen escalating violence in the past week or two which was clearly described by Deputy Harris. Even in the last few days we have seen people whose job it is to report and be a witness of what happens in war situations and its impact on human beings, including young people, children and families, being attacked. Marie Colvin of The Sunday Times, a journalist doing no more than her job of being that witness, was herself killed, with one of her colleagues, in the course of one of these shocking attacks. She was a renowned journalist and a solid, reliable and robust witness to the impact of war in Syria and many other places where she had worked.

The answer to the question has to be that now is the time for the international community to respond. I know the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will attend a meeting in Tunis on Friday. It is not directly related to Syria but I understand attempts will be made, whether at the margins or otherwise of that meeting, to address this pressing and shocking issue for the international community.

We have much to preoccupy ourselves in this country, but it is essential we lift our heads from the challenges we face to see what is happening to ordinary human beings in another part of the world. The international community must respond, perhaps by way of armed assistance to the opposition. The opposition is fragmented but it is starting to indicate that it wants a clearer form of international intervention. There must be a stepping up to the plate by Russia and China. It is not acceptable for those two influential countries to maintain a veto on what the international community must do in that country.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank Deputies Simon Harris and Alex White for raising this issue. I am responding on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, who regrets he is unable to be present.

The situation in Syria is one of the utmost gravity which has attracted the almost universal condemnation of the international community. It is appropriate that we should discuss this issue today.

Because the Syrian authorities are not providing access, we do not have a clear picture of what is happening in Syria in terms of deaths, injuries, torture, rape and other abuses, but there is no doubting the scale of the suffering and the extent of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law due to the actions of the Syrian regime.

In the past month, the situation has deteriorated greatly. The Syrian army has escalated its violent attacks, including indiscriminate and relentless bombings, against civilian areas in the city of Homs and the northern province of Idlib. There are thousands of trapped civilians under merciless assault from their own government who urgently require protection and humanitarian assistance.

Ireland has been working intensively with the EU, the UN, the Arab League and other partners in the international community to compel the Syrian regime, through a series of robust economic, political and diplomatic measures, to cease its appalling attacks on the Syrian people.

At EU level, the Foreign Affairs Council agreed, on 1 December and 23 January, additional measures related to the energy, financial, banking and trade sectors, as well as the listing of additional individuals and entities involved in the violence or supporting the regime. The Government fully backs these measures. They come on top of extensive existing EU sanctions, including a ban on oil imports from Syria. Syria will also figure heavily on the agenda for the EU Foreign Affairs Council next Monday. The Tánaiste will be attending this meeting where there will be consideration of how the EU can step up even further the already considerable international pressure on the Assad regime to change course. This may include additional restrictive measures.

At UN level, Ireland and all its EU partners voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution on 16 February which condemned human rights violations in Syria and which was supported by an overwhelming majority of UN member states. The Tánaiste also outlined Ireland's serious concerns at the situation in Syria when he addressed the UN Security Council on 9 February. In addition, the Tánaiste discussed Syria with the UN Secretary General at a meeting on the same day.

The Government regrets very much that the Security Council, in failing to adopt on 4 February a draft resolution which commanded extensive support, has been unable so far to speak with a single voice on Syria. A strongly worded Security Council resolution would be a uniquely powerful and resonant demonstration of concern on the part of the international community and would add significantly to the pressure on the Assad regime. The Council's failure to date has instead provided a pretext for the Syrian regime to escalate its brutality against the civilian population.

The Arab League, for its part, has been providing strong leadership in relation to the Syria crisis. The peace plan which it outlined last November still provides the best basis for achieving a resolution. The initial meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Tunisia tomorrow, which the Tánaiste will attend, is also likely to prove valuable in considering how to assist Syrian civilians and in endeavouring to bring together representatives of Syria's fragmented peaceful opposition.

Deputy Simon Harris

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive reply on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and I thank the Minister for the leadership he has shown on behalf of our country on this. The fact that he will attend, on behalf of this country, the inaugural meeting of the Friends of Syria, in Tunisia tomorrow gives hope that this country can continue to do what it has always done, which is play its part in promoting human rights and protecting civilians from violence.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting of next week will be a crucial point for Europe to speak clearly with one voice and to leave our other international colleagues, particularly Russia and China, in no doubt as to exactly where the EU stands on this issue. It is worrying for anyone who has confidence in the UN to see the UN's outdated structures unable to reach agreement on this matter. The use of the veto by Russia and China has been extremely problematic. The politics and power play that continually happen at the Security Council is disconcerting.

I thank the Minister for his leadership.

Deputy Alex White

I thank the Minister of State and, through her, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for a strong response to the issue raised by Deputy Simon Harris and myself. It is important that we record our strong feelings as parliamentarians on this. The Government's response in the House and the evidence Deputy Shortall has given of the actions taken by the Government, particularly by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, is heartening. It is no more than we expect but it is, nevertheless, extremely heartening and encouraging.

Deputy Harris mentioned the clear rebuttal of the Syrian Government's argument that it is not responsible for attacking civilians. Marie Colvin, the journalist who was killed earlier this week, was asked recently on CNN about the Syrian regime's claims that it did not target civilians. She said, "It is a complete and utter lie that they are only going after terrorists. The Syrian army is simply shelling a city of cold, starving civilians".

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank both Deputies for raising this, and for their comments. It is the Minister's strong view and the Government's firm view that the complexity of the crisis in Syria cannot in any way be used as an alibi for inaction in the face of such grave violations of international norms and humanitarian law. The Government and our international partners are absolutely determined to redouble our efforts to apply concerted political, diplomatic and economic pressure to the Syrian regime until it ends the violent repression it has unleashed on its people.

I thank the Deputies for raising the matter.

Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 23 Feb 2012