Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I also thank our guests for their presentations, it is all very enlightening and helps us try to do our job. I will read one paragraph from the consortium's written initial presentation, which is very salient.

In the first four months of 2021, 316 structures were destroyed, representing a 90 percent increase compared to the same period in 2020. Of particular note, this period witnessed a 108 percent increase in destruction of donor-funded structures compared to the same period in 2020.

That is a very telling paragraph. The chart on the last page is also very bleak and sad. It shows the settler population consistently increasing up to 2020 and similarly, the number of structures destroyed increasing. Of course, as we discussed last week, all this is contrary to international law and is completely against the wishes of the Irish Government, the EU and most of the UN. It remains a very serious situation.

What has the impact of the recent horrific violence been on medical services, schools, streets, the physical landscape etc.? How much does this exacerbate the situation and to what extent does it put the consortium's work in jeopardy or put an unreasonable burden on their work? I ask given we have learned the Médecins sans Frontières, MSF, clinic was destroyed, that the streets are being shelled and that apart from the tower which had the press organisations in it, a lot of other physical infrastructure has been destroyed. I would like to get our guests' response to that. Mr. Holt said that annually the consortium would give roughly 15,000 people practical aid. He or Mr. Randles might elaborate on what happens to the refugees. This was previously raised at the committee but they might chronicle the outcome for a person who is forcibly removed. They might also address the process of removal, where people go then, the consortium's various interventions and the likely outcome of the refugees' lives, post demolition and removal. Where they end up is an important thing. Mr. Holt referenced in the presentation that the elections were a catalyst for making things worse in 2021.

Would it be their view that the post-electoral situation might help a little? What will be the impact of the geopolitical situation? There has been much condemnation and a focus on the latest outbreak of violence but when all of this settles, hopefully, and an armistice is agreed and peace returns, how will things develop then? Despite the US performance at the UN at the weekend, do the witnesses think that the Biden Administration is likely to put pressure on Israel? I gather there has been an intervention this morning. Will the Biden Administration bring pressure to bear on Israel that will, hopefully, halt the demolition?

These are the issues I raise at this point in our discussions. The witnesses make the case very clearly and we are firmly against the demolition. We must work in concert at the UN and the EU to deal with it. I hope that the European Council meeting today, involving various Ministers, including our own Minister for Foreign Affairs, will result in strong words and actions. I take the point that words are not enough. While a verbal response is necessary, it is just not enough. This is contrary to international law and it is a very serious state of affairs that these illegal settlements persist. I look forward to the witnesses' response to my comments and questions.