Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To be honest, I am not sure the Irish Government will be able to influence banks in either Israel or Palestine. We have spoken and will continue to speak directly to the two organisations involved to understand how we can be helpful in practice, in terms of protecting the work they do. That includes how they are financed. Being designated as illegal because of links to terrorism is very worrying for an organisation in terms of its ability to be able to work at all. It is important to be upfront about that. This is not simply a label. It is a designation in law or at least has a legal effect, which is hugely problematic. That is why I was so direct in raising it.

We spent more than half a day in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, looking at settlement expansion and the impact that is having on many Palestinian communities. It is a real worry. My commentary on settlement and settlement expansion has been pretty consistent, both on and off the record. We regard it as illegal. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power on somebody else's land is prohibited from transferring its populations into occupied territory, which is exactly what settlement expansion is all about.

There are close to 700,000 Israelis now living in different parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. That is making the ambition of a two-state solution as a basis for a negotiated peaceful outcome to a conflict increasingly difficult. In this regard, I am referring to the future viability of a Palestinian state. I continue to be very direct and blunt about the illegality of what is occurring, and also about its counterproductive nature if one is serious about negotiating a peace settlement in the future.

I strongly defend our ambassador's commentary. Israel, as a country, sees itself as a democracy based on the rule of law. That does not mean I am not very critical of actions of the Israeli Government in occupied territory. I am not afraid to call out the illegality of that, but the two are-----