John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Every time the Minister is here, when we talk about the Palestinian issue, the human rights violations, and the expansion of illegal settlements, we hear the words "negotiated peaceful outcome". How realistic is that? We all hope to get to that point but with the continued expansion of settlement units and the onslaught against human rights, with the designation of the six groupings, how long can we wait until that peace process kicks in, if ever? Hopefully it does. All the time, a two-state solution is being completely undermined. As I see it, there is no serious attempt by Israel to get back around the negotiating table. Unless definitive actions are taken to force Israel to the table, it will continue to act with impunity. We talk about Syria and Belarus, and about the swift actions being taken by the EU, not normalising relationships with different regimes, standing up for human rights and so on, but there are no parallel actions by the EU or Irish Government, even though we have said that Israel has breached international law by annexing occupied Palestinian land. When are we going to say that enough is enough and that we need to take a stand, to work in unison with the EU or to take unilateral action and take measures ourselves?

I want the views of the Minister and Department on another matter. The Minister is aware of the ongoing hunger strike of seven prisoners who are being illegally detained in administrative detention. There is classified evidence and there has been no trial or evidence whatsoever. One of those prisoners, Kayed Al-Fasous, has been on hunger strike for 117 days. The silence from the international community is deafening. What are the views of the Minister and the Department? Will he call for the immediate release of Kayed Al-Fasous from detention, along with his six fellow prisoners who are currently on hunger strike?