Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have visited the region on more than one occasion and I have seen little progress made over a 35-year period. Therefore, I wonder if it is possible or feasible to achieve a settlement.

In terms of the potential for a two-state solution, one will discover when one visits the area that there are three or four states so I am not sure there will be success. That question has been raised during debates in the House and I have raised it before. I have looked at the situation on the ground and have two questions. Is it feasible to continue pursuing the line that the international community has pursued? How effective is such a policy? To my mind, it is not an effective solution. To what extent has either side moved towards to accommodate each other? Are they willing to accept an international forum to deal with the situation? Are all sides willing to accept such a forum?

On one of my visits to the region it was suggested to me that we could create a tunnel between Gaza and the West Bank, Hebron or whatever. That is one of the suggestions put forward and I am not sure it is based on reality. It made me wonder how feasible some of the proposals have been.

Finally, a President of Egypt and Prime Minister of Israel were assassinated following their efforts to bring about a settlement. They were virtually isolated by their own people who did not go along with their proposals.

How does the international community exert sufficient influence to convince the opposing parties to recognise that it cannot go on forever - or can it go on forever? We have had a recent meeting with representatives from that area who appeared to suggest that, from an Israeli point of view, they intended to hold fast forever if necessary. I do not think that is feasible. Nor it is feasible to expect that any kind of arrangement can be reached that will accommodate all parties or any party if that contingency position is adopted by anyone.