Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These are issues that always require an amount of concentrated negotiation before one can peel away problem after problem, like the layers of a vegetable, and expose the real nub of the matter, which dates back many years. On the second Iraq invasion, I could never understand why Mr. Blix was not given another six months to determine that there were no weapons of mass destruction readily available in depots all over that country, as was proved to be the case. However, geopolitics played their part in that regard.

The Deputy will recall from his own analysis of the history of the region the support for different regimes from different countries, how they changed and how the religious conflict can and has flared up in so many cases. Obviously, the people of Gaza made their decisions in the elections they held. Then there were the difficulties with the tunnels, access from Israel, the offers made and the negotiations that broke down. I saw some of the shells of the rockets fired from Gaza. They had been poorly manufactured in the early stages. Some of them that have been imported from other countries have been more sophisticated, with direction finders and global positioning system, GPS, locators. It is not true to say one just disagrees with this; we disagree with both sides very strongly, both at the level of engagement from Israel into Gaza which has resulted in the total destruction of regions in Gaza and the indiscriminate firing of more sophisticated rockets than previously from Gaza into Israel.

The Deputy is right that this is not the first time there have been reconstruction programmes in Gaza. I hope it will be the last, but given the nature of the historical series of engagements in that unfortunate area in the last 100 years, one would have to be very strong in one's faith to believe something might not happen again. For now, at the conference hosted by Norway and Egypt there were pledges of $4.5 billion for the region, of which $2.5 billion is directly for reconstruction in Gaza. Obviously, there is an international logistics issue regarding equipment, transport and capacity to build in the hope it might not happen again.

I have disagreed for many years with the housing policy adopted by Israel in areas of the West Bank in terms of the difficulties it causes. However, I am aware from attending European Council meetings that, for example, the sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs have begun to bite from an economic point of view, but these things are not as easy as they appear when people suggest boycotts in either direction. The connections in terms of energy and industrial supplies either way mean that even in a situation where there have been mercenaries and military personnel unofficially or supported unofficially in Ukraine, it still means that one must do deals in respect of business and energy supplies for huge numbers of people facing into exceptionally cold winters.

I prefer the negotiation route, where people have the understanding or the courage to come to a table and hammer out the arguments and discussions to a point where they can reach a conclusion. We have all supported for a long time the two state solution of Palestine and Israel, but it is based on a conclusion being reached. It was the late 1940s when it was put in place in the first instance and it has been broken on many occasions since. It was never possible to put it in place in a lasting way. I do not agree that a boycott is the solution. It is not the first time that difficult and complex discussions and negotiations have taken place. Ireland, as a member of the European Union, has urged the parties to sit down and get together in a way that I hope could bring about a conclusion.

As the Deputy says, when one travels through portions of Gaza, one sees what happened - the children at the seaside, the wells destroyed, schools destroyed, the numbers that must be fed with humanitarian aid every day and the blockade of the sea - but there are the other arguments about the transportation of explosives, rockets and so forth, the political situation in Gaza and the support that comes into the country. These are all complex issues. I am glad that there is now a fragile peace and hope it will last in order tht reconstruction can start and people can put some shape on their lives in respect of all those who were blown away by the 51 day barrage. It is one area of the Middle East that is riven with tension and war and it will not be sorted easily.

I accept the Deputy's point about the situation in Kobani. We have had discussions about the mercenary opposition in Syria. These are collections of personnel which are not really an opposition force and in many cases they have carried out worse atrocities than others. The Assad regime has Russian support. It is an atrocious situation. Libya is on the verge of civil war. There are 1.5 million refugees in south Lebanon and over 1 million in Jordan. Now Kobani is under siege. In the Iraqi area the airstrikes or military action must be sanctioned by the Iraqi Government, but no sanction has been given for anything in the case of Syria.

It is an exceptionally complex issue and I doubt that we will sort it out at Question Time today.

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