Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. I join colleagues and the Minister in expressing our condolences to the Palestinian people on the death of Saeb Erekat. It is an appropriate thing to do in the case of a man of peace.

It is interesting that many emigrants abroad look to our embassies as a safe haven or a refuge in the worst of times and it is great we were able to give assistance to 8,000 people to return home during the Covid crisis. While obviously we have to discuss geopolitics today, and I will come to those issues, we should also stress this as something positive and good. It is also positive that we gave €140 million to the Covid response globally. We should be proud of that.

I welcome the fact that the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, has announced the suspension of plans for the annexation. This is good but just as it is good news it is very disturbing that there is an expansion of settlements and demolitions. This has to be condemned. I am happy that the Minister is particularly proactive in respect of the situation in the Middle East.