Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The international community is very much engaged on this issue. As the Deputy knows, at the UN General Assembly in September a statement was agreed by the Quartet, comprising the United Nations, the European Union and so on, setting down a timetable for discussions to take place between Palestine and Israel. It is regrettable that this timetable has not been complied with and has slipped somewhat.

The purpose of my visit to Israel and Palestine was to see for myself the situation on the ground and also to have discussions with both sides. I met President Abbas and Foreign Minister Malki on the Palestinian side and, asindicated, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Lieberman and the Deputy Prime Minister on the Israeli side. My visit followed directly a separate visit by High Representative Catherine Ashton and was followed by a visit by the German Foreign Minister. There is, therefore, very much EU engagement to try to get the talks process moving. The King of Jordan had convened preliminary talks and we were trying to get both sides to engage with them. There is no doubt that the continuing blockade of Gaza and the settlements on the West Bank are huge obstacles to the progress of talks. That is why I concentrated in my discussions with the Prime Minister on examining the confidence building measures that could be advanced by Israel which would show the Palestinian side that the talks would be worthwhile.

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