Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

It is a measure of how out of date our procedures are that this question, which was tabled in early September, has only now come around for reply. When one considers that it concerns an issue that was then a crisis, the conflict between Russia and Georgia, one sees that it is necessary to do something about how these questions are selected for reply.

The EU responded quickly and effectively to the Georgian crisis. Much of the credit for that must go to President Sarkozy who responded very quickly. Can the Taoiseach tell us why the European Union was not able to respond as quickly or as effectively to the crisis in Gaza? When Russia engaged with Georgia, the Union was able to act quickly, deal with the situation and get a result. Israel launched an assault and invaded Gaza and the European Union seemed absolutely powerless to do anything about it. A total of 1,300 people are dead and there is major destruction in the area. Is there any way to explain why there was effective action in Georgia and no action worth talking about in Gaza?

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