Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I agree with what the Deputy has outlined in terms of the illegality of settlements which are contrary to international law. The fundamental problem is that the facts on the ground continue to feed scepticism on the Palestinian side that the Israeli Government is open to a deal. On the other hand, I put on record that when I went to Egypt, which is the subject matter of a later question, interlocutors were clearly of the view that Prime Minister Netanyahu had the capacity and was anxious to do a deal. That is the view of a number of others who are close to events in the region. Almost all are now agreed that, notwithstanding the difficulties that have been outlined in terms of the settlement announced on east Jerusalem, etc., it is preferable to get proximity talks under way under the Mitchell initiative and to have them conducted through the Mitchell team. There was scepticism about the proximity talks, including on the part of the Arab League and Mr. Amr Mussa, but they advised President Abbas to agree to them nonetheless.

One must reflect on what is happening. It seems that every time a step forward is made, there are elements in the Israeli Government who do not want any progress at all and elements who do. Certain actions, such as those taken during the visit of US Vice President Biden, seem to suggest there were even attempts to derail the commencement of proximity talks. We need to be careful that we are clear about our objectives. If we are to learn another lesson from Northern Ireland, it is that, at the very worst, there is no harm in commencing proximity talks and engagement. After commencement, the confidence, commitment and conviction of both sides can be built, thereby leading to direct negotiations over time.

The EU Ministers posed the same question as Deputy Timmins in that they asked what more the European Union can do. We were briefed last Monday by Mr. Tony Blair, the special envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East, at the EU Foreign Ministers' meeting. It was a good analysis and briefing on circumstances. The Foreign Ministers will return to the question of what the European Union can do collectively to give greater impetus to the talks process and to acknowledge the enormous contribution the European Union makes.

Mr. Tony Blair made the point that one dividend of EU support has been the incremental achievements of the Fayyad Administration on the West Bank in terms of the development of governance, security and economic capacity under the Palestinian Authority. This has emerged directly from the aid and support of the European Union. Therefore, we should not lose sight of some positives that have emerged in recent years, although they may constitute a minority of developments overall.

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