Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his detailed reply. Given that Ireland was the first European Union member state to declare that a solution to the conflict in the Middle East must be based on a fully sovereign state of Palestine, independent and co-existing with Israel, does the Minister agree that this is an opportune time to take a new initiative? Does he also agree that bilateral recognition would act as an impetus for the much-needed renewed peace talks to which he alluded? Does he accept that the Israeli Government must change its approach both to talks and the Palestinian people? It should be reiterated that the Palestinians deserve equality in the negotiations and that recognising the Palestinian state would go some way towards achieving such equality.

Following our discussions at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, did the Minister have an opportunity, during the recent meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, to point out that the European Union must take a more proactive approach to the Middle East peace negotiations? I welcome his reference to the decisions of Sweden and the British House of Commons to recognise the state of Palestine and I hope he will continue to encourage the European Union, including the High Representative for foreign affairs and the Foreign Affairs Council, to take a more proactive approach to trying to advance the Middle East peace process.

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