Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

With your permission, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I will take Questions Nos. 14, 15, 21, 33, 38, 43 and 45 together.

As I have made clear to the House, prior to the anticipated sailing of the flotilla I made clear to the Israeli authorities my insistence that any interception of the flotilla must ensure the safety of Irish citizens, and indeed other peaceful participants, on board. This message was conveyed through diplomatic channels and by me personally to the Israeli ambassador and to a visiting senior official of the Israeli foreign ministry, who I asked to make their Government aware of my views.

When reports were received of the damage to the MV Saoirse, operated by the Irish participants in the intended flotilla, I made clear my view that it would be a matter in the first instance for the authorities in the port in Turkey to investigate any claims of deliberate sabotage, but that if such claims were substantiated by the Turkish authorities this would be a matter of serious concern, especially if the lives of those on board might have been endangered.

I made this clear in public and, again, I conveyed the same message personally to the Israeli authorities.

As I have also told the House, however, the Irish Embassy in Ankara has been in contact with the Turkish authorities and has reported to me the latter's view, based on a coastguard examination of the damaged vessel, that the boat was not sabotaged. There has therefore been no basis for raising the matter with my EU colleagues, or making a further approach to the Israeli authorities.

I have myself indicated that, while I respected the intentions and objectives of those intending to participate, I could not support a venture whereby citizens intended to place themselves at risk. I understand that the actions of the Greek Government in preventing ships from sailing from Greece to Gaza were motivated by a concern to avoid risk to human life.

As regards the reported actions or statements of the NGO Shurat HaDin, a number of NGOs in Israel and elsewhere are reported to have made various claims in relation to the planned flotilla. We are not in a position to assess whether there is a factual basis to any of these claims.

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