Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I had intended to ask Mr. Shatter if he would deal with the settlement issue. He has given his answer and I am not exactly buying it. The issue is greater. I agree with him in the sense that engagement obviously works but we are only going to get to that level of engagement when we can take the sting out of the situation and when there is a proper settlement.

The other issue I was going to raise, to which Mr. Shatter alluded, was a change in Israeli politics and the rightward move that makes things rather difficult. The argument as to whether Israelis or Jews can live on the West Bank could bring us into a conversation on the right of return and so forth. None of us will agree on this. I am happy enough to leave the discussion at that on the basis that there needs to be a settlement and this needs to end. I contend that the taking of land is a problem and the increase in settlements does not help. It is very difficult to see it as anything other than a ploy in the long-term game of creating a greater Israel, for want of a better term. I am not expecting Mr. Shatter to agree with me on that.