Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the eloquence of Deputy Stanton. He summed it up very well. All efforts have to be on a ceasefire. I hope with some certainty the American presidential election might help and the work that is under way on a ceasefire in Lebanon could reach across to Gaza.

Draft agreements have been tabled in respect of the Lebanon situation. People are working flat out in respect of Gaza, but political will is always required on the part of both Israel and Hamas to sign a deal and agree a ceasefire deal that would give some respite to the people of Gaza and allow hostages to be released. Again, Ireland is working on this. We have very close relationships with, and were involved in helping, the Arab nations with suggestions from a European perspective on the Arab peace initiative. Unfortunately, it did not get the traction it should have in the US and elsewhere. It looked at all the issues, including Israeli long-term security concerns, which are very real, given what happened on 7 October. It also looked at a Palestinian administration in Gaza, getting aid into Gaza and getting some sense of governance there. However, the level of reconstruction that will be required is on a massive scale. The Deputy put it very well.

The opinion was issued in July. In relative terms, we outlined in our discussions with Senator Black approximately 12 areas that have been suggested, some of which overlap and need amendment and consideration. If the Deputy's party needs a briefing at some stage with our Department, that can be provided, but it is not possible to do it in two or three days. I think the Deputy accepted that. It simply is not possible to do it in two or three days. It needs significant consideration. The Attorney General's opinion is lengthy and quite comprehensive. There has been some illustration of that from the French case. We are, to a certain extent, moving into a unique legal position with this. The ICJ enables us to do that. That is the point. It enables us to go forward. The essential argument we are making is that the ICJ has placed obligations on us as a nation not to do anything that would aid the illegality of the occupation. The ICJ states that in its opinion. I think Deputy Carthy was saying that we knew what the position was. We did not know what the ICJ advisory opinion was because the Attorney General was making an oral submission to the court and giving our perspective to the court. I wanted to clarify that point. It is not as if we knew before the court. The whole purpose of that started as a UN resolution that Ireland strongly supported and worked on with the Palestinian authority. We then made a written submission and an oral submission to the court. There is some credit to Ireland for being consistent in using the international legal forum as it is to push this issue.

We have also co-sponsored a UN resolution asking the UN General Assembly to take steps to implement the ICJ advisory opinion at UN level. If we are honest, the problem is that legal processes by their definition are one area for action. The other areas are diplomatic, political and economic.