Mr. Ruairí de Búrca:

I will take that question. The €16.3 million is approximately the same as the allocation we started out with last year. We have made an initial response of just over €1 million, from memory, to the conflict. As I said in response to Deputy Sherlock, we are awaiting a UN assessment of needs and we will be making a further allocation based on that shortly. I would anticipate that by the end of the year, the total allocation to Palestine will be quite a bit higher than it was in 2020 but we want to do this in a sensible way and on the basis of need.

On the potential destruction of properties, we are part of the West Bank Protection Consortium, along with a number of EU member states and the EU itself, which, over the last decade, has collectively put about €15 million into various infrastructures, of which our share is approximately €1 million. At present, and this is without an assessment of damage done in the recent conflict, there are outstanding compensation requests for about €625,000, which have been lodged and on which we are awaiting adjudication. Our pro ratashare of that is about €12,500. We are active on that. The Minister has raised the question with the Israeli ambassador and directly with his Israeli counterparts in the region. Our ambassador to Israel has also raised this, as have our EU counterparts, and it is something on which Brussels and the EU ambassador to Israel are active. It is one of those things we are working hard on.

I think its significance is possibly beyond just the financial value but we are very active on it, as is the Minister.