John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement. I commend all the work that takes place in the Department on the critical work we undertake across the globe. I have a number of questions. The first relates to Irish Aid. This committee has done extensive work on aid that goes into the occupied Palestinian territories. We held a series of meetings and published a report in respect of the demolition of structures, including Irish-funded structures, within the occupied territories. In the first instance, what is the Minister of State's view on those illegal activities that are being perpetrated on the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupational forces? Second, with regard to a compensation claim that Ireland is a part of and which is being headed by the West Bank Protection Consortium, can the Minister of State give a view or an analysis of the current position of that claim? Has Israel engaged with Ireland or the West Bank Protection Consortium on this claim, which includes the destruction of Irish-funded infrastructure?

Regarding the situation in Ukraine, I note the impact of the conflict there on the civilian population. Given Ireland's commitment to an international rules-based system, what actions can Ireland meaningfully take bilaterally and through multilateral fora to promote and respect accountability for international humanitarian law in Ukraine? We have made a number of commitments, quite correctly, to resettle refugees from places such as Jordan, Lebanon and Eritrea, to name a few. Can the Minister of State confirm that meeting these resettlement pledges will not be negatively impacted by the welcome decision to relocate refugees from EU states bordering Ukraine? Can we get a commitment that those commitments will be honoured?

What measures, including price controls, solidarity actions among exporting nations and trade policy measures, may be used to ensure continuity of supplies to protect the right to food for the most vulnerable throughout the world? What leadership can Ireland provide at UN level on this? Can the Minister of State confirm that Ireland will continue to meet its commitments to ongoing and existing humanitarian and development issues already budgeted for in 2022 and whether additional finances are being sought for the refugee response in Ireland?

To conclude, things are getting a little better with the Covid situation in Ireland. However, internationally and particularly in developing countries, it is still a major challenge given the low levels of vaccine roll-out and accessibility. Regarding my view and the view of many organisations on the inequality in terms of vaccine equity that exists, what is the current position or view of the Government on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, Agreement waiver?

What is the current position of Government in regard to the TRIPS waiver? Does the Minister still believe it is not needed at this point and that there is adequate access to vaccines in those developing countries? In my view, and that of many organisations, the longer we drag our heels, the greater prospect of a new variant emerging and undermining everything that has been achieved up to this point.