Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Kelly is correct about the difficulty of visiting and recognising our Army, which has done some fantastic work in the Golan Heights and elsewhere across the world and continues to do so, because of Covid-19. We will do everything we can to show our Defence Forces again that we recognise the contribution they are making to international peace.

The European Union has moved on Belarus. We have condemned the ongoing mass and indiscriminate detentions, including of children, and the threats made by the authorities to take away the children of parents who protest. I am appalled by the shameful and needless death of Roman Bondarenko in police custody. The EU sent a very firm message to Minsk by imposing targeted sanctions against 55 individuals in Belarus, including Alexander Lukashenko himself, and we stand ready to go further. While Mr. Lukashenko has announced that he will stand down after constitutional amendments are adopted, it is clear that the repression of the Belarusian people continues. The European Union Commission has conducted a review of EU-Belarus relations and is working on directing European Union funds away from the authorities to provide direct support to Belarusian civil society. We and our European partners will continue to press the authorities to respect their international commitments to stop the repression of their people. I spoke to opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in August. She has a great love for Ireland and said that a piece of her heart is always in Ireland. She spoke fondly of her time in Tipperary. We support a sustainable, democratic and peaceful resolution of the crisis there.

Deputy McDonald asked about Palestine. Ireland has long supported a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. That said, Israeli policy is consistently jeopardising and undermining the prospect of such a solution. We urge the Israeli Government to cease its practice of demolitions, which is contrary to its obligations under international humanitarian law. We as a country provide emergency shelter and support to affected families through the West Bank Protection Consortium.

We will prioritise the Middle Eastern peace process during our term on the UN Security Council in 2021-2022. We will do whatever we can to advance efforts towards a just and lasting peace.

We are aware of the situation in east Jerusalem and the long-standing threats of eviction which Palestinian residents continue to face in that neighbourhood, which has worsened in recent weeks. Irish officials in Ramallah visited the neighbourhood and they will continue to monitor the case closely. Our clear view is that the Israeli Government must uphold its international obligations on the treatment of civilian populations.

Settlements are illegal under international law. They actively undermine the prospects for a two-state solution. Ireland has consistently and strongly opposed settlements and this Government will continue to do so. We also work and repeatedly call on Israel to respect and respond to genuine concerns about the treatment of Palestinian prisoners. Ireland has repeatedly called to Israel the applicability of international human rights standards, and Irish embassies and missions in the region continue to monitor the situation closely. Ireland's humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Palestinians will amount to more than €16 million in 2020. This funding has been expedited to reduce the incidents and mitigate the impact of the pandemic among the Palestinian people.

When it came to power, the new Government adopted a position on the Occupied Territories Bill. I am not sure that the legislation in itself would act as any restraint on Israel's policy on settlements. We have supported legal avenues to differentiate between settlements in Israel, for example, by joining a case before the European courts last year on labelling of certain goods produced in settlements.

On the recognition of Palestine, the programme for Government makes clear that the Government will honour its commitment to recognise the state of Palestine either as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict or, in advance of that, when we make a judgement and believe that doing so would progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or protect the integrity of the Palestinian territory. We discuss this issue on an ongoing basis with our European partners, due to the likely benefits of moving in step with our European colleagues.

I articulated my views on the Finucane case strongly in the Dáil yesterday. I will engage with the British Government and Prime Minister on the need for a full public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. There was extreme annoyance and anger at the previous day's decision and, in particular, the reference to the PSNI and the Police Ombudsman, both of which had made it clear that there is no new material for them to take the case forward. We, as an Irish Government, will, as successive Irish governments have done, continue to put pressure on and engage with the British Government on the need for a full public inquiry.

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the Covid-19 vaccine. Governments do not produce vaccines nor do they produce medicines. They do not have the capital wherewithal and have not engaged in the area historically. The important difference that I have seen, as Taoiseach now and as Minister for Health during the SARS epidemic, has been the far greater degree of co-ordination at international level, particularly at European Union level with the private sector. I know the Deputy hates the words profit and private sector. That I understand, but that ideology cannot get in the way of getting vaccines and getting them researched and produced at an unprecedented pace and rate. The pre-purchase agreements have been essential to enabling the capital and funding provisions that will underpin the production of the vaccines. There are no guarantees when vaccines are being researched, produced and manufactured. This is a collaboration between the private and public sectors at an international level, within Europe and the United States. Considering the trillions of euro that governments have spent all over the world in underpinning their economies, the expenditure involved here is only a fraction but will be far more effective in getting our economies back up and running and getting people back to work than anything else.

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