Mr. Emmet Sheerin:

From my experience, the reason for the demolitions I saw when I was there or that were reported to me was that the structures were built without permits. For Palestinians it is almost impossible to get permits. These structures are in area C of the West Bank and Israel has full control over civil as well as security affairs. The Palestinians have to apply to the Israeli authorities for planning permission and nine times out of ten it will be denied. It is also a lengthy and expensive process. The Palestinian communities are forced to build for their needs. Instead of changing the policy of mass demolition and making it a more fair and transparent process, Israel enforces the policy of mass demolition. Incidentally, the committee should be aware that European-funded structures have been demolished in the West Bank and, consequently, there has been a loss of European money.

In regard to the hope that the man to whom I referred raised with me - one might ask why, at present, one would have hope at all - the answer is that he and many people in his community had in the past looked towards America to see what it had been doing. However, they have lost all hope in America and now they are turning their attention towards another power, Europe, to see if it can respond. I was in the West Bank when the Tánaiste made his remarks about settlement produce. I asked this man what he thought about that and he thought it was an important thing to do; he wondered why it not been done before. That was giving him the hope of something tangible that could be done and the hope lies in these things, in what we can do.