Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Tánaiste for his response and congratulate him on his contribution at the UN General Assembly on 26 September. There had been some speculation in the media on that occasion that he would perhaps depart from his speech on Ireland's traditional position in terms of the Middle East conflict. I commend him for the position he took. All parties in the House will be supportive of the work on which he will engage in the future.

The Tánaiste quoted appropriately Martin Luther King in terms of the "fierce urgency of now". In fairness, this is reflected in the response of the Quartet and the timescale set out. Given the impediments and particular problems with Mr. Netanyahu, will the Tánaiste indicate whether he and his EU colleagues will engage collectively or bilaterally on the matter and whether it is envisaged that he or other EU foreign Ministers will meet Mr. Netanyahu directly to try to address the awful problem of the continued settlement expansion because therein lies the greatest difficulty?

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