Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táim fíor-bhuíoch as an deis labhairt ar an mBille tábhachtach seo um thráthnóna. It is my privilege to support the Bill on behalf of Sinn Féin and I commend Senator Black on advancing it.

I listened with a sinking heart to the Tánaiste's speech. He spoke about the centre of gravity as it pertained to Palestine. Let us assess the centre of gravity and the progress that has been made. The Palestinian people are victims of a process of colonisation and an onslaught of building of illegal settlements. Land is taken and rights are denied. People are imprisoned using a form of internment known as administrative detention, a British law that still stands. Their numbers include more than 400 children. Children have been maimed, with their eyes gone, thanks to Israeli defence forces aggression. Young men were jailed - actually, they were children - at the age of 12 years and released at the age of 15. A young woman aged 16 years, Ahed Tamimi, spent six months in jail for standing up to Israeli soldiers. Last year 312 Palestinians, including 53 children, died at the hands of the Israeli army. That is the centre of gravity.

See this speech in context