Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When the Deputy spoke earlier about the International Court of Justice, I do not think he was upfront with the Irish people in terms of how it works, and he was deliberately populist and polemic about it. That has been the case on many issues around this question. Ireland wants to be credible in terms of how it legally intervenes in international courts so that when we do it, we do it with purpose, we do it with credibility and we do it in an informed and substantive way that gets results at the court level. When we go through the international courts, of course, those interventions by themselves are not going to resolve the immediate breaches of humanitarian law that are occurring. We are very clear in Ireland. We had also become involved in the ICJ previously in terms of the legality of the occupation and the obligations. We have financially supported those courts, so Ireland has put its money where its mouth is. I respect the courts and I do not treat the courts as political platforms. I believe that when we make a legal intervention, it has to be substantive, it has to be informed and it has to be with a view to getting a result and an outcome, not just for some political grand statement at a particular point in time through a motion or whatever.

The Deputy knows that deep down but he will never say it because it is much more attractive to keep pretending that this side of the House somehow does not share his empathy with the people of Palestine or does not share his horror at what is happening. We do. We have condemned it and we have been strong in international fora in condemning it. I get the sense all of the time that the Deputy is endeavouring to drive a wedge within the House when the overwhelming view of the Irish people is one of condemnation of what is happening in Gaza and of doing everything we can to end it.

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