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

As the Taoiseach noted, the threat of the further annexation of Palestinian land has been suspended but it has not been definitively taken off the table. As the Taoiseach is also aware, the state of Israel is additionally and in any event consistently in breach of international law. It is the essence of what we might call a rogue state. We want to get to a solution. I want Ireland to be as constructive and helpful as possible in that regard and at times that means we have to lead from the front.

As the Taoiseach knows, the Oireachtas has agreed on a position that we should recognise the state of Palestine. The Taoiseach needs to do that. He needs to honour the decided verdict of the Oireachtas on that matter. That would be of help in unlocking the situation and for us, in our own way, to lead from the front in respect of the two-state solution. The occupied territories Bill, which the Taoiseach and his political party supported, should not have been offered up on the altar of political expediency to cut a deal with Fine Gael, which did not support that legislation. Fine Gael may have been unique among parties in the Oireachtas in not supporting that legislation. I propose the recognition of the state of Palestine and advancing and enacting the occupied territories Bill as concrete ways and contributions to what the Taoiseach states he wishes to see, namely, a resolution of the Palestinian question and the achievement of that two-state solution.

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