Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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To be clear, we are not under pressure concerning our independent foreign policy approach. I would not like anyone to get that impression - we are not. That is important and consistent with what Deputy Haughey heard separately. I raised Sudan yesterday and was the only member state representative to do so, to try to make it part of the discussion for the European Council meeting. We will see if it is on the European Council agenda; we hope it will be. The dynamic and conversation around migration in Europe are continually changing. The Deputy spoke about the threats to democracy - these points are linked - and the weaponisation of discourse by state and non-state actors. Of course, there is a lot we can do in state structures to help with that issue but we must recognise that these are malicious actors. We must not contribute to the inflammation of language being used deliberately in our democracies to try to destabilise them. As public representatives, that responsibility falls more to us than anybody else to ensure we do not replicate the language popping up on Facebook anywhere in Europe. There have been a number of examples of concern over the past number of months and years. We must be careful to make sure that does not happen and we take our own responsibility.

The Deputy is right to say we have seen a fragmentation in Europe in relation to migration. It was a huge issue from a humanitarian perspective five, six and seven years ago. Yet, the conversation has only become politically weaponised in the past two or three years - why do we think that is - in the same way that other questions became weaponised four or five years ago. The Deputy was right to identify that there are malicious state and non-state actors involved in that. We, as politicians, must be careful in how we respond. The Deputy is right that the discourse has changed. We hope it is clear that the borders of Europe are the external borders - while we are not in Schengen, it is the external borders of Schengen. There are no political pressures to change what has been an exceptionally successful Single Market and free movement area for a long time with all of the related benefits for people. It is a challenge for me when I hear a migration conversation on one hand and that we must close our borders; of course, we must have a rules-based process but we cannot operate without migration. Nearly in the next breath, there is a conversation about the challenges of demography and an ageing population and that we do not have enough people to be innovative and competitive. I cannot understand the intellectual gap that does not join these issues in some way and recognise that there are talented people, including people coming into my constituency in wealthy parts of Dublin such as Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire. They have come in and been welcomed into those communities for a long time. They have bachelor's degrees and are only dying to work. It is about making the connection between enabling people who can work in societies in which we want people to work and pay tax and that it is happening. Politically, we must recognise those instances and not contribute to further inflamed dialogue. The Deputy is right to identify that issue. It is one we can help to settle down ourselves.

I will go back to the rule of law conversation because of its importance. It is difficult to straddle these different processes and recognise that countries in the western Balkans are at different stages of development. For example, Moldova has made extraordinary changes and reforms but does so against the backdrop of difficult political pressures and interference in their democracy. An important referendum and presidential election are coming up shortly which will, I hope, set a path for Moldova to continue to move towards Europe. Meanwhile Georgia, which is so close, is taking the opposite steps but it is the Government doing that. The people of Georgia are still in favour of European Union membership. This is evidence of weaponised political mechanisms trying to divide countries that would, or would not, come to Europe. We must recognise case by case the efforts western Balkan states are making to come to the values and rules of Europe and try to support them in every way we can. For example, I met my Serbian counterpart when I was in Bled. It is an important country in that region. It has many political challenges in different ways. We offered our help with the issue of embedding judicial independence and structures. Ireland has offered help not just to Serbia but to a range of countries where we can provide expert support and additional capacity in different ways to help them on that journey.

I was really struck by the efforts Serbia was making in terms of providing energy support to Ukraine. On all these different pieces, when you spend more and more time with different countries, you understand better the difficult positions they have. We will open three new embassies in that region next year to have a better footprint there and to better understand and better support those countries as they move towards Europe.

On the Middle East, to update Deputy Ó Murchú, as I said earlier, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste are two of the most vocal politicians globally in this regard. They are operating throughout the UN high-level week. They have been engaging with their counterparts, King Abdullah of Jordan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa. The Tánaiste is meeting with a wide range of counterparts, including his counterparts from Palestine, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon and his EU 27 counterparts through the Foreign Affairs Council. The Government has a clear track record of bringing attention to the situation in the Middle East and advocating at EU level for action. It has been consistently raised at European Council meetings and Foreign Affairs Council meetings and in the ways in which I can get in at the General Affairs Council meetings, where the timing is very tight. Most recently, the Tánaiste raised his concerns at an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers during the high-level week. The Taoiseach will raise his concerns at the European Council, as I did at the General Affairs Council yesterday. What we are trying to achieve and have been for a very long time is a few different things - an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and unfettered humanitarian access. Ireland has been at the front in providing support, not just core support, to UNRWA when it has asked. We are one of its first ports of call. It is so important to say that. I remember at the very earliest stages of this conflict being on a call with Samantha Power about how we would get humanitarian aid into Gaza. Ireland was in - I do not want to say the proud position - the appropriate position of being the frontrunner in its contribution in both proportionate and absolute terms to UNRWA at that time, massively increasing our support to UNRWA by I think 125%, but I will check that. We are therefore at the front in our support for civilians in that region. There is no question about that internationally.

Deputy Ó Murchú is right to identify that there was a concern and reports of flights over Ireland of civil aircraft. There is an investigation by the Department of Transport. It has identified that nine flights occurred in sovereign space, but what is not yet clear is what was on those flights. There is still a body of work to do to investigate that, but I will happily come back to the Deputy once we have more information on it.

On the settlements, it is very important to recognise that Ireland was one of the first to move in removing ISIF funding from organisations there. I think Deputy Ó Murchú and I have discussed that in the House before. That is a concrete step that Ireland could and did take. It is very important to reflect, following the ICJ judgment, on what legal platform that gives us, if any, to do anything else. We have always taken the view, correctly, that Ireland calls on everybody else to comply with international law. That is our position. That is our foreign policy - compliance with international law and broad humanitarian access to the world. Compliance with international law is essential. As the Deputy knows, we have differed on the occupied territories Bill and the level of competence that trade is, whether it is a domestic issue or a European issue. The firm, consistent advice from Attorneys General has been that it is a European trade issue. For that reason, going back to February, the Taoiseach and the Spanish Prime Minister raised the trade association agreement and what can be taken further in that regard. It is very important to say that our partners do not necessarily agree with that. While we continue to raise it, the Deputy is right to ask, "What have you actually achieved out of that?" Our partners do not necessarily agree with that, yet we continue to raise it. It is important to say that the Taoiseach, reflecting on the ICJ judgment, which is a very important judgment, has asked for a new look, as the Deputy knows, at the advice as to what Ireland can do, beyond removal of ISIF funding in that region, that reflects international law. As soon as we deviate from our stance on support for multilateral institutions and international law, we can never act outside that. We must always act in a way that is most current with that evolving situation. It is important to say that the Taoiseach has asked for a reflection on whether that new piece of information, the ICJ judgment, is important in our consideration as to how we approach this in the next phase.