Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who contributed this evening.

Certainly, the reading of this report shines a strong spotlight on everything that is wrong and illegal, and unacceptable, about how Palestinians are treated by the Israeli state. I have been consistent on this issue that Ireland is a country that needs to use its influence in the UN, in the UN Security Council, in the EU and in other international forums, such as the human rights council which we will use tomorrow on this issue, to speak out in a way that can try to bring about change. My priority here is not to focus on protest or language for the sake of it. It is to try to find a way to change reality on the ground. That is why I have chosen engagement to do that as opposed to making statements and using language that, I believe, will potentially isolate Ireland on this issue. I have been consistent in that approach for the past number of years.

I have been to Israel and Palestine five or six times now as Minister for Foreign Affairs, which is more than any other country I have been to outside of the European Union. I have done so because I want Ireland to be involved in this issue, and because I know that Irish people care about it and are knowledgeable in relation to it.

When people say that they want me to use our position on the Security Council to speak up, I say that we are doing that. Every month we speak up on this issue. We did so again on 22 February. When people say to me that they want Ireland to make a difference on this issue, I say that is what we are trying to do. We are undoubtedly now seen as the most vocal country in the European Union on the Middle East peace process in terms of getting across a Palestinian perspective as well as holding the Israeli Government to account in terms of international law.

A number of months ago, we decided to effectively agree a motion in this House calling out de facto annexation in the West Bank because of the strategic nature, pace and extent of Israeli settlement expansion across the West Bank. People made the case for that motion and they were right. We called that out. Many people said to me that if we did that, it would create a domino effect across the European Union and other parliaments would do the same. We were right to do what we did that night but it did not create a domino effect across the European Union, even though I have spoken to many of my colleagues explaining why we did it and suggesting that they should do the same.

If we are serious in this Parliament about trying to protect the Palestinians and to create a relationship with Israel that can help to change Israeli Government policy towards Palestinians, we have to engage. That is not achieved by expelling the Israeli ambassador. You cannot say we need to engage through the UN Security Council with the Israeli Government to try to bring about change in the Middle East and at the same time cut off our diplomatic channels for communication with a country. That is not consistent.

I care about this issue as much as the Deputies opposite do.

I too have stood in UNRWA schools speaking to young teenage girls about their future, hemmed in in Gaza, unable to fulfil their full potential because of a blockade. I am driven by that too in terms of the commitments that I have given on behalf of our Government and country in wanting to help those people to a better future. I have done the same across the West Bank, visiting people's homes and farms at different times. I have been speaking to Bedouin communities, who have been pushed out of their lands. I have seen the settlement infrastructure, strategically linking settlement to settlement across the West Bank. Let us be clear: the outcome that we are looking for here is the same - a two-state solution; two peoples that respect each other living in peace side by side; an end to illegal occupation, an end to relentless expansion of settlements; an end to forced evictions; an end to impunity on the back of settler violence towards Palestinian communities; and an end to violence against Israel coming from Palestinian sources too, in particular from terrorist organisations in Gaza.

If we are serious about being a force for change in this space, and using our position in the European Union and using our influence on the Security Council, we have to build an alliance to do that.

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