Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The mistreatment of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in the occupied territories has been a matter of deep concern to us. Ireland with its EU partners has conveyed this concern directly to the Israeli authorities. We feel that this has had some result as the age of criminal responsibility for Palestinian children was raised in 2012 to the same age as that for Israeli children, as should be the case.

In Ireland's statement on Israel for the Universal Periodic Review in October, we urged Israel to implement fully the recommendations of the March UNICEF report, entitled "Children in Israeli Military Detention", including seeking an end to the arrests of children at home and at night. We also raised the issue of conviction based only on unrecorded, written confessions in Hebrew, solitary confinement for minors and the denial of access to family members or legal representation.

It should be pointed out that these issues are not unique failings. Similar or, indeed, worse criticisms could be made of penal systems in many of the neighbouring countries in the wider Middle East. This is not to excuse anything but to point out that we must be equally concerned about human rights elsewhere. I assure the Deputy that we have raised the specific issue of children and will continue to raise and make progress on it.

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