Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which I am taking on behalf of the Tánaiste. It is good that it is being raised. Both the Deputy and I are of a similar age and we can recall all the horrors of the past on this island. Last week, when we witnessed similar atrocities in Gaza, it brought me back in time and one cannot say who is right or wrong. We faced our own horrors in Northern Ireland and, whether it involved the British Army, the UVF or the IRA, somebody always suffered, no matter who committed them. One should not take sides, but there is no question that the Palestinian people need support which I hope is clear from the Tánaiste's reply. If not, I will seek further clarification.

Members will be aware that last year Palestinian President Abbas submitted an application for full membership of the United Nations. That application has not been proceeded with because the Security Council has been unable to agree to a recommendation to the General Assembly, which is the required procedure. This year, as an interim measure, President Abbas has applied for observer state status in the General Assembly, a matter which is decided by the General Assembly alone. This status would be less than full membership of the United Nations but would be an advance on Palestine's current status as an observer organisation. The only current observer state is the Holy See, although Switzerland was also for many years an observer state prior to joining the United Nations. A draft resolution to this effect has been circulated at the United Nations and is expected to be put to a vote in the General Assembly tomorrow.

The move is primarily symbolic. It will not bring about an effective Palestinian state and not short-circuit the need for both Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate and agree to a comprehensive peace agreement. It may improve Palestine's access to other parts of the UN system, but, primarily, it represents a step forward towards the Palestinians' legitimate aspiration to sit, as a fully sovereign state, as a full member of the United Nation and the international system of states.

Ireland was the first western state to declare that the solution to the Middle East conflict must include a sovereign Palestinian state. That was stated by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, the late Brian Lenihan Snr, in the Bahrain Declaration in 1980. For many years the achievement of that Palestinian state, co-existing peacefully with Israel, has been the centrepiece of EU policy. We believe, as do all our EU partners, that there should be a Palestinian state and that, after many years of frustration, the time to achieve it must be soon. Nonetheless, the resolution to be voted on tomorrow has posed difficult questions for all EU member states because there is no Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Authority is an autonomous body under the Oslo accord, exercising control over a part of the Palestinian territories only. Some partners believed this move at the United Nations was, therefore, premature or might even negatively complicate the peace process. Ireland has carefully considered all of these issues and, on balance, decided that the proposed resolution is a modest step forward by the Palestinian people in line with the policies and objectives Ireland and the European Union have long espoused and which we could, in principle, support. Last year, in his address to the General Assembly in New York, the Tánaiste stated clearly that Ireland would support a balanced and responsibly phrased resolution to admit Palestine as an observer state.

The draft resolution, as it stands, reiterates the Palestinian aspiration for full UN membership and realisation of a full sovereign state. It reaffirms the Palestinians' commitment to the peaceful co-existence of Israel and Palestine. Crucially - this is the main point on which the Government wished to be satisfied - it confirms the need for the Palestinians and Israel to negotiate between them a comprehensive peace agreement covering the full range of issues to be decided. In this way, the Palestinians have made it clear, as we wished, that this move at the United Nations is not seen by them as a turning away from, or an alternative to, the peace process. President Abbas has stated strong international support in this vote will help him to re-engage in direct talks with Israel without preconditions.

The resolution is, without doubt, unwelcome to Israel and a strong vote in its favour should be seen by Israel as a strong signal of international impatience that the endless delays in the peace process must come to an end, but we see it very much as strengthening the status and confidence of the Palestinians and their leadership and, thus, their ability to re-enter talks with Israel to resolve their differences. A comprehensive peace is still there to be had and Ireland and the European Union will do everything they can to help both sides achieve it.

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