Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a specific question. Having discussed it with my Seanad colleague, Senator Higgins, I know she would have intended to ask this question if she could were it not for the Covid-19 restrictions. She understands and appreciates that.

Building on Senator O’Reilly’s question to our panel, there are public health concerns internationally, specifically around Israel's unequal distribution of vaccines and access to vaccines for Palestinians in the occupied territories. As our panel will know, the Palestinian human rights group, Al-Haq, joined by more than 100 Palestinian human rights and civil society organisations, called Israel's vaccine policy discriminatory and unlawful due to its complete disregard for its obligations toward Palestinian healthcare. I believe one of our earlier contributors spoke to global apartheid with regard to the vaccines. Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stipulates that the occupier has a duty to ensure the application of necessary preventive measures to combat the spread of diseases and epidemics.

So far, more than 172,000 Palestinians in the occupied territories have tested positive for Covid-19 and there have been more than 1,900 deaths. As other members have said, I note the Government is contributing to COVAX. In keeping with the Chairman's advice, however, I have a specific question. Not least in the context of Ireland's often-cited and often-lauded soft power on the global stage, whether that is in the context the of the EU, UN, the Security Council or our historic and long-standing links with North America, will the panel give us their views on what more could be done specifically by Ireland and this State to support Palestinian equitable access to vaccinations?