Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I refer to my approach to this issue in the European Union context. There are domestic and political considerations which influence the way the United State responds to this issue and the way it engages with it, and I think Deputy Wallace referred to this. Therefore, the European Union has a particular role to play in seeking to make progress. There is a framework around the quartet statement which the US, Russia, the UN and the European Union developed and put forward. The approach I will take is to encourage European Union colleagues and High Representative Ms Ashton to take that forward. I will play whatever role I can on behalf of this country - a country with a long-standing record on this issue - in the EU Foreign Affairs Council and with European Union colleagues to support European Union efforts on this issue and to try to make progress towards talks.

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