Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am only quoting what the Tánaiste said back to him. I believe that is putting it mildly, and I do not apologise for saying that. I believe the Minister for Foreign Affairs should be much more assertive and much more in line with international objectives and responsibilities of upholding international law and standing on the side of victims of breaches of international law, breaches of the Geneva Convention, people who are suffering and enduring apartheid, rather than clouding that in language about “violent tensions”. I do not believe that is helpful. That is that.

Deputy Clarke raised a very specific question to the Tánaiste around the issue of accountability and what he sees as accountability. I am still not clear on what his position on behalf of the Government actually is. I do not even want to look at this in the retrospective because the sad, unfortunate reality is that there is no reduction in what we are seeing Israel inflicting on the Palestinian people. There is no halt to the demolition, no halt to the expansion of illegal settlements, we are not seeing a change in the apartheid regime and we saw more massacres in Nablus just a few days ago. Very specifically, as the Minister representing this State, in terms of accountability when states break international law, when they breach the Geneva Convention, when they implement a system of apartheid, will he explain how and in what way the Government believes they should be held accountable?