Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee today and for their presentation. In starting, I wish to say that I have been in Gaza. I was there in 2009. The warnings I gave when I was a member of the European Parliament at that time have come home to roost in the sense of the dangers. It was during the changeover of the American Presidency between 27 September 2008 and 18 January 2009 that Israel bombed Gaza, killing 1,400 people, including 400 children. The issue is on a far greater scale now, with at least 25,000 innocent children killed and some 60,000 to 70,000 people killed in total. I am very much aware of the challenges there.

The witnesses have come in strong and more or less said the Government is not doing a good job in dealing with this issue. The witnesses have to accept that the Irish Government, from a European point of view, has been to the forefront in highlighting the issue, both at a European and international level, especially through our diplomatic involvement in the UN. Do they accept the Irish Government has done a huge amount of work, both behind the scenes and publicly, when it comes to our stance on what Israel is doing?