Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
10. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the additional steps he and his EU counterparts have taken to address the Syrian conflict; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1581/13]
View answer27. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the conflict in Syria will be a high priority in Ireland’s EU Presidency; and if he will invite representatives of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces to Dublin during the Presidency. [1667/13]
View answer34. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which it is intended to use Ireland’s influence in the course of its Presidency of the EU to positively influence the situation in Syria with particular reference to the urgent need for a major humanitarian input from the EU and its member states in association with the UN and the worldwide community with the objective of bringing to an end the on-going loss of life and humanitarian violations; if he anticipates a specific role for this country and the EU; if this will be prioritised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1654/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 27 and 34 together.
The conflict in Syria, which arose from a basic demand on the part of ordinary Syrians for greater freedom and democracy and which by the UN’s estimate has to date cost up to 60,000 lives, has been a major priority for the European Union over the past two years. It will remain a major priority during the period of Ireland’s EU Presidency. We will continue to be fully supportive of the High Representative in her work on this issue and will use our influence to advance the efforts being made by the European Union to bring about a political resolution of the conflict working closely with the relevant official structures.
The immediate priority is to achieve an end to the violence and the initiation of some form of political process. Ireland and the EU fully back the efforts of the UN/Arab League Joint Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi. We were very pleased to facilitate a meeting between Mr. Brahimi, Hillary Clinton and Sergei Lavrov at the OSCE Summit in Dublin last month. This has led to further tripartite meetings between the UN, US and Russia in the search for a political solution. Such a solution is likely to draw extensively from the Geneva Communiqué of last June which foresaw the establishment of a transitional Government responsible for mapping out a path towards political transition.
I have also repeatedly made clear that there must be accountability for what has transpired in Syria and that those guilty of committing war crimes must know that they will ultimately face justice. That is why Ireland has been fully supportive of the efforts to have the situation in Syria referred by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court. We have taken a leading role within the EU in arguing for such referral. I am pleased to note that virtually all EU member States are signatories of the letter which the Swiss Mission to the UN forwarded to the President of UN Security Council earlier this week and which called for referral to the ICC and reminded all sides in Syria of the obligation to fully respect international law. I was also pleased in recent days to join with Ministerial colleagues from Austria, Denmark and Slovenia in issuing a strong public statement in support of referral to the ICC.
We also need to encourage the political opposition in Syria, now led by the Syrian National Coalition, to work actively with Special Representative Brahimi in search of a ceasefire and a political breakthrough. This was much one of the principal messages delivered by the Foreign Affairs Council when it discussed Syria last month. I was pleased to meet the President of the National Coalition, Dr Al Khatib, on that occasion. Dr. Al-Khatib also met with the Minister of State for Trade and Development, Joe Costello TD, on the margins of the Friends of Syria meeting in Morocco last month. I have now formally invited President Al Khatib and his officials to come to Dublin to discuss the Coalition’s plans for a post-Assad, democratic Syria.
Ireland and the EU will also remain actively engaged in addressing the seriously deteriorating humanitarian situation arising from the crisis. Some 2 million Syrians have been internally displaced, a further 2 million are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and more than 600,000 refugees have fled the violence to neighbouring countries. Ireland has contributed a total of €2,450,000 in emergency assistance to date in response while total assistance from the EU so far stands at €321 million. The UN has now convened a high-level donor pledging conference for Syria in Kuwait on 30 January at which Ireland will be represented by the Minister of State, Deputy Costello.
