Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also extend a warm welcome to members of the deaf community in the Visitors Gallery. They are very welcome and it is great to see an interpreter in the Gallery for the first time.

I had intended to raise a different issue with the Tánaiste concerning mother and baby homes but, having heard her entirely limp and lily-livered response to Deputy McConalogue's question on Gaza, I feel I must question her further on the matter. I cannot believe that for a second week in a row, when the Tánaiste was asked about casualties and the deaths of Palestinian civilians, including children, she reverted in her answer to giving advice to Irish citizens who may happen to be in the vicinity or the region generally.

It is not sufficient for the Government or any Minister simply to issue a statement on this matter. There is an obligation to act. To clarify matters for the Tánaiste, in case she is not aware of this, the crux of this issue revolves around the Israeli Administration and Israeli state's failure to abide by international law. It is long past the time that the Israeli Administration was called to account. It is also long past time for the Irish Government to tell the Israeli Administration that it cannot act with impunity. There are no excuses or alibis for shelling and bombarding a civilian population, for inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian people, and for murdering Palestinian children. That needs to be the message. If it is not the message then, frankly, we are all wasting our time. The power disparity between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli military and political apparatus is very clear.

When the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade meets the Israeli ambassador, what will be the Government's position on this matter? What is the Government's position on the bombardment of a civilian population and the collective punishment of the Palestinian people?

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