Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

It is widely known that the Palestinian Authority is in financial crisis, unable to pay for basic needs such as food and medicine, and I therefore unreservedly welcome the decision to channel aid payments to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians taken yesterday evening at the UN in New York. However, I also repeat my call for the European Union to reverse the decision it took last month to suspend aid payments to the Palestinian Authority.

In making its decision to channel aid to the Palestinian territories, the Quartet, of which the EU is a member, has recognised the pressing need for aid and the appalling conditions in which many Palestinians now live. However, that welcome action highlights inconsistencies in the European position and contrasts starkly with earlier decisions to suspend aid payments. It is clear that a growing humanitarian crisis in the region will do nothing to aid the development of greater peace and stability.

Ireland, through the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, should now take a lead role in calling for EU aid to be fully restored. In addition, the Irish people deserve an explanation for the lack of action taken by the Minister when the decision to suspend aid was taken at European level.

We all know that building a lasting peace in the Middle East will be incredibly difficult. Hamas must move away from terror as a means of achieving political aims, and all EU member states, including Ireland, are right in demanding real movement on that front. However, in suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority, the EU is backing key players into a corner, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the region, and adding to instability. Instead of allowing time and space for developments with Hamas, the EU's decision to suspend aid was a knee-jerk reaction that may undermine tentative moves forward, embedding deprivation and strengthening the influence of extremists. In the short time I have——

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