Government pledge another €1m in Syria aid
The Irish government has pledged a further €1m in funding to support the rising refugee crisis in Syria.
The United Nations said refugee figures have now passed two million, and have described the number of people fleeing the conflict as alarming.
"One million of those refugees are children - that is the entire child population of Ireland under the age of 18," said Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello.
"So we are making this €1m available to UNHCR and UNICEF, which deals with children, on humanitarian grounds. It will be dealing with food, and water, and sanitation, and protection."
The money being pledged by Ireland will be used by UN agencies to provide basic services in refugee camps.
It brings Ireland's contribution in response to the Syrian crisis to €10.8m.
