John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To follow up on Irish Aid and the demolition of structures in the occupied territories in Palestine, the West Bank Protection Consortium to which Ireland is a party made the specific point in terms of the compensation claim and the follow-up that while, obviously, no compensation payment had been made, it is primarily up to the Government to follow up on that. I appreciate the Minister of State may not be aware of the details of this issue. If he is not, he may be able to get a note for the committee on it. There was specific reference to it being up to the Government to follow up with regard to the non-payment of the compensation claim. If he does not have knowledge of the issue, that is fine, but it is important. I hear what he is saying in terms of going in to rebuild structures that are demolished in the occupied territories, but the point here is about accountability. I mentioned the historic decision made by the Dáil last week when it declared that annexation has taken place in the occupied territories. Such annexation is illegal under international law and there needs to be accountability and consequences for those measures. Similarly, there must be consequences for the Israeli occupation forces in the context of the demolition and destruction of Irish-funded structures and aid in the occupied territories that have been illegally annexed. The compensation claim has been made, but what is the Government doing in terms of following up on that to ensure there is accountability? It is not good enough for us to fund it and put it in place only for it to be demolished and subsequently rebuilt. The demolition cycle will continue if there is no accountability. Like in the case of the illegal actions being perpetrated on civilians in the Gaza Strip, unless there is accountability, Israel will continue to act with perceived impunity.